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CONSTITUTION, 




LES, 



LIST OF OB'S'ICE!H,3 AND IMlESdIBEH-S 



OF THE 



4 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: 



TOQETEEa WITH THE 



INAUGURAL ADDRESS of the PRESIDEI* 



-O 



CONSTITUTION, 



STANDING RULES, 



LIST OIP OZFIFIOEie/S J^H^ID Is^BIMIBEI 



OP THE ? ^ 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORK 



TOGETHEE WITH THE 



INAUGURAL ADDRESS of the PRESIDENT. 



.A 







LOS ANGELES, (JAL: 

XEW8 AND RECREATION PRINT. 



IlSriDE 



PAGE 

ConBtitntion and By-Laws, 6 

Organization (1887X 10 

President More's Address, 11 

Rain, Hail and Snow (By flenry D. Barrows), ....... 14 

.^Bstivation of California Mason Spiders (By Miss Sarah P. Monks), 18 

Some Wonders of Idaho (By R W. JonesX 28 

A Sketch of Some of the Earliest Eentnoky Pioneers of Los Angeles (By S. 

C. Foster), 30 

A Brief Bibliographical Sketch of the ''Becopilacion de Indies," eta (By Geo. 

Bntler Griffin, L.L. BX 86 

Beminiscences : My First Procession in Los Angeles, March 16, 1847 (By S. 

0. Foster), 46 

Appendix : Reports of Officers. 58 




t- 



\. 



\ 



r 

i 



A 



Constitution and Standing Rules of the ( 

Committee and the Society. 



— ^- » Constitution. «•" -" 



AuTi(7,K I. The riiinio of tlic Society 
slmjl 1h» the Ilistoricjil Society ofSoulli- 
orn (-alifoniiji. 

Aktk'Lk II. The ohjocts of tins society 
sliall ho the collodion and pn*sorvntion 
of all material whi(^h can have anv hear- 
ing upon the history of the Pacific coast 
in general and of Southern California in 
)>articular; also the discussion of histor- 
ical suhjocts, the reading of such papers 
and the trial of such scientific* experi- 
ments as shall he determined hv the 
(reneral Committcie. 

Article III. The officers of the So- 
ciety shall he a President, four Vice 
Presidents, a Treasurer and a Secretary. 

Article IV. There shall he a (Gener- 
al Committee consisting of the oflicers 
of the Society and ten other memhcrs. 

Article V. The oflicers of the Soci- 
ety and the other members of the (lOn- 
eriil Committee shall he elected annual- 
ly by ballot; they shall hold office until 
their successors are elected an^l shall 
haye po\ver to fill yacancies. 

Article VI. It shall be the dutv of 
the General Committee to make rules for 
the government of tlie Society and to 
irnfiBiict all its business. 



Article VII. This constit 
not be amended except by a tl 
yote of the mcmlxjrs present 
nual meeting; for the election 
an«l after notice of the propof 
shall haye boon given in \vi 
slate<l meetip.g of the Societ 
four weeks preyiously. 



Standing Rules of the 
Committee, Dec, 1 






1. The President and Vice 
shall hold like offices in tl 
Committee. 

2. There shall be a Secret' 
(reneral Committee who shall 
bv ballot by the General Coin 

3. The President shall ha^ 
call si)ecial meetings of the ( 
and to ai)point Sub-Committc 

4. The Sub-Committees sh 
business for the General Com 
perform such other duties as : 
trusted to them. 

5. There shall be two star 
Connnittees; one on Conur 
for the Stated Meetings of tl 
and another on Publications. 



ffof tlic* »Socic't'' aiitl l»v :ul- . inns, wliii-li sliall in- nnnounccd i>v tlii' 
otluT times. Cluiir, sliull I'c ns fallows: — 

l>iirjM)SL-s t'Xfi-pt t\)r \\u.'\ yir-^t. Tin- nsulinji oftlu iiiiiiulfs t»f 
f llio r^taiHliiig Uules ortlir-tlM^ last annual nu-.tinL'. 
• of tluj Socieiv, an'l lli-* i Sfnm'l. The'' pifsmtaliun of the an- 
;inin;i*s, six shall conslitiitt' I niial reports ortlic Secrrtarv of the JSt»- 

cirtv an-l of thr Sccn*tarv of tlu* Coin- 

iiios of proposed lu-w niciu- "^i^^^'*'' ^^•*»'*'^' ^''V*'''^^ ^^^'^'^ contain a 
iiuUrd in i-onfunniiv with l*''^ ''^^ ^^'*' ^»'^'"*''" ^'^' nK-nduMs elected 

the Standing Uuies'of thej ^i"<'^* ^*^'' ^''^^ :»iuiual meetin^r. 

bu presented at any meet- 1 Thlrtl. Tlie ]»resrntatit»n of the an- 

u-ral C'onnniltei", liut shall |Uiial report of the Treasurer. 

least four weeks before li- ! Funrth. Thr announeemoiit of the 
d the eoiieurreiiee of twelve ■ nami's of menihers. who, havin<r eom- 
e t'omiiiittve>hall be nee«s-, pli,.(l with Secticni 1*2 of the Standing 
111. The Setrretaiy of tin- j Uules, are entith'd tt» vote on the election 
iiittee shall keep a chrono-. ,,f ollici-rs. 
?r uf the elections an<l ac- y/.y//;. The election i»f I^vsident. 

"^*"*'*''^"-- ■= Sirth. Th<' eleclioM of four Vice Pres- 

landing rules and those ft»r \ idents. 

lit of the society shall he s,rr,,th. The election of Treasurer, 
with the consent of a ma- ; 

.leiieral ('ommiltee. ^^ . . 

Xi'itth. Tin- election ot ten mem))ers 

I 

j of the (icneral Cominittee. 

l\nt}i. The con>idcration of siincnd- 
Rules of the Society, i ments to the constitution oflh" Society 
somber 1883. l if any su<?h shall have heen pro]K)sed in 

I accordance with Article Vi I. oftlu-coii- 

Isiitution. 
led m.Mtin«r.< of the Society ^ri^rmth. The rca.lini: of the rou-h 
at lialf-i»ast seven o'clock „,i,nites of thr meetinL'. 
[oikLiv evening of earii cal-; 
; tlie place of meetin-io be | \ K^-^'tions <.f oflic-crs an- to be held 

■ the (ieneral Committee, j ''^ l-'^'^^vs :— 

In each cas«- imminations shall be 
of the time and place «d'| ^^^.^^j,, ,^,^1^. ,,^. ,j,,..^,,, ,,j- .,,^ i,,,. ,,.,„.,, ,,.^1. 

besrnttoeachm..mberby||^^^^ ^j^,. ;,.^;,j^ ,,j. ^^.j^i,.j, ,,,.j| j,^. .,,.. 

r of the Soch'ty. Wl^'n i ^j,^,,,^,.,.^, ,,^. j,,,. s.-cretarv, after which 
.•cial meetings may be called j^,^^. J. j.,^ j.;,.„^.,l |,.,|,„^ ^,^.,ij j,^. ^.^i,..„ 

*^"^* ! J n the ballot for Vire-rnsideiits an<l 

nual meelini: for the elec- members of the Crenerai Committee, each 



E'ttlhth. The eh-ction ofSecretarv. 



s 4«halJ l>e the .•*lated meet- 



voter shall write on one ballot as many 



cy. yVjr nii/rr **!' JfliK-Vfil- 1 ni\iuv»< as there are ol\\cer^ \o \)v; v;\eeVv:d, 



viz.. ft)iir on the first Fallot for Xico- 



10. Coinmiinications inton 



PrctsidiTits and ton on tlie first for mom- i)iil»lioatic»n und«*r the au^?))ioo^J 
hors of the (ToniM*al Comniittot' : an<l on ' Societv sliall ho suhmitted in wr 
ea^'h snhsoqiiont hallot as many names tlic (ioneral Commillcrc fur api)r< 
as there are persons yet to ho eh-eted, j ^^ Nrw mondnM-s mav bo y 
and those persons wlio reeeive tlio hi^di- 1 j^, ,vritin- l,v three mend*)er.s of 
«'stmaji»rity oftiie votes east shall be ' ,.|,.^^. ,- ^^ olo<'tiun hy the Gonen 
ch'ohnred eleetod. I ^jj^^.,. . i^^^^ no person shall be n 

If in any ease the informal hallot re-:^^, ^i,^, privileges of member»^hiI: 
snltinjr.vin- a majority for any ono, it ' ,,^ M;.nilies his acceptanee th 
may 1)0 deehired formal by a «iJ»j«»nty ^vritin- within one month after 
^'*^^^* ; lion of the election. 

5. The stated meetings, with the ox- i , r^ i i in 

. \ . „ , I lii. haeh member .shall pav 

eeption of tin' annual meetin<r, sliall l>e rp i • • *» 

* . 1 reasurer, on ailnussion, tlie sni 

(h'voted to the consideration and dis- ! , „ ,j,.v , , . , 

,.,.,., , . ..^ 1 -dollars (*2) jTnd also annual 

eussion ot- historical and seientine suo- ^, , „ /j..». ,, 

three dollars {W>), p.'iyable qi 

•* ■^* , . 1. 1 No member whose dues are impi 

The stated meet»n«; noxi preeedinc the ^ , i *• r ^ 

, ,7, - 1 I ^'<'te Jit an annual meeting for t 

annual mo(»tintr shall nc sot apart lor tin? ! . . .,. , .... ,. 

^ , ^ . , , . , 4 , tion ot oilirers, or be entitled to 

<leliverv of the PresKU'iU s Annual Ad- ^ . i >• «- r •! i:; • 

I of the i>uhliealions of tJie boci 

the absence (»f the Treasurer the 

i\. Sections representing special ' tary is authorizetl to reeeive the 

branches of science may bo foruKrd by mcmbiTs. The names of those t 

the (leiieral Connnitico up<)n the written in nncars shall be droppe<l from 

rocommondation of twenty members of of inombers. Notice (»f resign 

the Society. mcml)orshii) shall be given in wi 

7. Persons interostod in historical and : |*'«' <^hMieral rommittee through 1 
scientilic matters, who are not rosidunls idont or Scjcioly. 

of Los Angeles, may be present at any' i.s. The tiscal year sshull ti 

mooting of the Society, except the an- \ wiiii the annual meeting. 

nual meeting, U])on invitati(m of a mem-. , . » 1 * • 

^' * : 14. Any moml)er not in arrea 

bv the pavment of one hundred 

8. Similar invitation to residents of ^[ .j,,,. ,,,;, t|,^,,.^ become a life i 

Los Angeles, not members of the Society, j ^^,^^1 {^^^ released from all further 
must be su))mitted through the Secretary 1 ^|^^^,^ .^^^j ^,^1^,,^ assessments. Al 
of the Society to the (leneral Committee ^ r^-dvcd in payment of life men: 
tor approval. shall be invested as i)ortions off 

1). Livitations to attend during tbn^e i nent fund, which shall be dirocti 
months the meetings of the Society Jind to the furtherance of such spec 
l)articipate in the disonssion of papers, j torical research as may be ord 
mav, bv a vote of nine mondtors of the the (lenoral Committee. 
<Teneral Committee, be issued to persons 
nominated hv two members. 




^i Officers for 1884. 

■^ (H. n. l)AEiicnv«, 

r^-P'""'"" < A. F. Cokom:,.. 
, p' l^Joii.N Manskiki.ij. 

ynnurcr — J. M. (Jrixx. 

*'\.,-,t"ri,—C. N. Wir.w.N. 

,i,mber8 of the General Committee. 

, Maih I's Bakku, 

H. F. Del Vaij.k, 

"i S. C. FOPTKK, 

'■) Geo. B. Ghtffin, 

ut Vplsky E. Howaui.. 

^.y E. W. JosEs, 

■ ' I. More. 

; J. B. NII.KS. 

f^' J \V. Ukdwav, 

■ 1 J. P. Wll.XKY. 

L-Oommittee on Commuaications. 
m:rs Baker, ,j,., „ ,;,,,,„ 

I. U IltXEY, 

^ Committee OD FublicatioD. 
). Bauk< 



J. B. Xii.K*. 



List of Members. 

Ltreiits 1103 South I'lirk street, 

Knliiiiiazoti, Michigan. 

JKH, MABt-rs . MugiH-tic Observ- 

iitury, S4" Hill street. 

LDwrN, JuiiN Makk 12 New Higli st. 

knows. Hkkky DwKinr 

76 Hull iVdro Btreet. 
ETBR, Enwix . . . .Temple Block. 
tDKiKLD, Abikl J. 836 H. Hope street. 

loKEr., ASTosm Frasco. , 

Tth und Alameiln streets. 
ii6n'E1., Mrs. Axtomo Fbakco 

Ttli and Alnmeda streets. 
I. VAI.I.K, BEr,i\ALDo Francisco 

City of Puris Block. 
i S. Mnin st. 



Edgar, \Vm, F. Washington street. 

EsTcmLLo, Jose Ouadali'pe 328 Hill st, 

Foster, Stephen C. 

FiTLLGR. Hesry ... 5 Clay street. 
Gbifpi.v, Georoe Buti-er 

Office 225 N. Main street. 
Gt:iNN, James Miller 118. Charity st. 

Hamilton, He.nry, . . , . , 

Hansen, George . Temple Block. 

HowAHit, Francis H. .341 S. Spring st. 
H.iWABD. Volnev E. 207 S. Spring st. 
JoxEs. Edward Wadswohth,. . , . , 

I'. (). l)ox 1438. 
KiNLEY, Isaac . 110 Ninh-im Blot 
KoHLEh, Aic;i;;sT , City I'mtrt Riioni 
Lkmmert, Pai'l Henry . . S. Figueroa st, 
Leverinr, Noah ... 426 Pearl street. 
Mai-twan, John Scott. 

Room 82. Temple Block. 
MASSFiKi.n, John . , Temple Block. 

More, Ira . Nuniial School. 

MoRUAx, JoHD Cox P. O. bu3t 357. 

Nevin, Joseph C- , :^14 S.Hill. 

NiLEB, John Barron .Office 18 Court st. 
Orme, Henky S . . 120 Main street. 
Pkck, Georoe H. . . El Monte 

Petroff. !vAN -.- Sun Francisco. 

Rkdway, Jacqi'es W. Normal School. 

Rust, Horatio N Pasadena. 

Sepulveda, Adromca. , , . 

Stanley, John Quincy Adaus . . . . 
Thom, Cameron E. Office Temple Block. 
Warner, Jonathan J. ...P. O. Box 
1115, Temple Block. 
Widney, Joseph Pomeroy. . .Widney 
Block ; 32 Hill street. 
Wilson, Chbihtopiieb North.. P.O. 
Box 775. 
Weight, Edwabd T Office Downey 



Ji)r|iigi(i'ql 'iJiJOrcss of 11k ^I'OsIOool, Col i 

i 3iJi|l-»Kk', Ocilivi'cd ivfol*e tl)c 

Soeljiji, Hfjio. 7, I88if. 

.]//'. Prr.'iidrnt a ad ninnhcrs nf the Hi a- 
fnn'cal Society of Sm/thrrn Ctdifornia. 

At the De(*oiTi)»cr m<M»tiii^ of tlio gen- 
eral committoe of vour sociotv, I was 
re(iueste(l tt) .speak to ycni on \hc orifjin^ 
fdiiitt, and olijrr.ttt of tliis soeietv. 

Conf(^rnia))ly to that reciucst, it is my 
{Hir})(v<c at this time, to speak very 
hriefiy of the origin, an*! somewliat 
mr^re at len<^lh, of wliat I eoneeivt' to hr 
tlie aim an<l o})jeet of our (M-ganization. 
Tliat we shouhl, at the (Mnnmenee- 
ment, have a defniite ])urpose, and aim 
at the aecnmplishment of crTtain \v<'ll 
ecnsidt-nnl plans, is of the first impor- 
tance, if w<' would dcvelo]) a healthy 
and vigorous growth. We eannot do 
bettrr tlu?n, tlian to ennsider at the out- 
set irJint we would <lo, and //(*//• wr , 
should do it. I 

ITow w«' cauK' to l>e, /. r. wliat was our 

origin, is, douhll(*ss, as familiar to vou. 

• I 
as to mvsclt'. A few g'-ntlemen. som«' of. 

whom ha<l hmi, and still are eonneftcd 

with liistoriral or srientillc siicictii^s, in 

other parts of our land. eone(»ive<l Xho 

idea of tormim: in this ritv su<di an or- 

ganization : — Here is a new tind unoe- 

<*upied tifld. It lias hf^en th(» home of 

the white man tor more tluni a eenturv, 

and now, in th«' mi«lst of the inrushing 

tiood of immigrajits, old land marks an* | 

rapidly disappf'aring. Th.ings which 

an* now common, in a tew vears will he 

r;ire ; and, after a IV'W vears more, tlM'V 

will e<*as(^ to he. 

Tlie origin of a s«K:icty like ours, 

grows out of that fundamental con- 

cr'ption wJ;ieii js the ha.-is of ouv oow- 

.^tifutioii. — t)uv /a us and the unwTUtt.'U 



Common law. That coneeption is, 
golden rule. Just as we now eag 
prize the records of the early colo 
life and growth of our state 
people, so will our successors prize 
records which w-o shall preserve 
them ; and, so far as in us lies, we 
discharge our dehtft to our predccesf 
for the records they have preserve^ 
us, by making and preserving for 
successors, those records which ^ 
h(^ of interest and use to them. Tl^i 
the underlying principle to whiclV 
owe our origin. Imbued with this it 
a few gentl(*men,John B. Niles, Gov 
or ^lanstield. Judge Levering, II 
liU.'-t, and the writer met in the » 
mal Sciiool building one evenin'r 
September last, and had an info'J 
talk, and agreed to meet again at 
end of one week, in the court roou 
Judge Morgan. Several meetings * 
followed, (the full details of which* 
on record) in the course of whichi 
orL'anization was effected and oflli 
electe<l. Thus was the society Ut 
and, it is now our business to reifi 
to train it to a vigorous growth, ^| 
cultivate it int<^ a hanlv, a usefji 
long-lived and l)eneficial organizall 
This society was, in my opiu' 
formed for wt>rk. It was not forj 
for show, — for the name ofthethini 
but to d«) si)methi!ig. What that w 

is. the societv has itself alreadv; 

«■ 

claretl in its organic act, — an act wi 
meets my hearty approval. } 

The seconcl article of our eonstituJi 
declares that '*the object of this sod 
shidl )»e the collection and ]>re.servaj 
o\' all material wldch can have ^| 
beavuxsi. v\Y»\\\ \\\^ \\\*\v>\n v>\\N\<ii^ 
i CvnvsX \\\ v:^!\\v\•^\\^ v\^^^ ^^^"^ ^v^^^^^xv*^v 



esin'vi* historic-ill iiuitt**!*. is tlicl sIkhiIjI Im- oiu" ilisliiu-i lin«'<ifllii wni'.v 
ol)jp<'t ot' i)iir iiiissii.ni. j wliicli wt lay uui I'nr «)ursi'l\'t's. Tliis 



h;ivo also, in our uritiinal cuii- 
n, laid the* foiiniliilinii vet l»ri»a«l<r. 



matciinl liaviii-i I)i.M-n rxamiiu'*!. uv mav 

■ 

tiicii ii.«(/ \i]v nu inoranda nixl tlic iiiciii- 
rj? of science, of (Xacl jiiul nic-j ori«*s of im-n now livin;:. to corp-i-t cr- 
;al knowkMljXf. art* also t«» In- k«j)t nus — '.rliilr fur tlio.-f ytt carli«r iii-^iuri- 
iw. Ainiiuir chii-liv in tin* lii>- cal infi«iriit> \vhi«'li l'«» l»a«'k uf tin 
1 direction. \w should n'»t ftirL^tt inrni<«ri«'< of nui* (»1i1.'-nI lu'-mlh-rs, w«' 
e, or the scientific nii'liin'l, in our can ai>|ily tii<' caiinn> of hishiiical 



Rv includinL' scicntilir. as Wfll 
torical matters, we may ho]M' in 
so tlie knowiedp? of each othrr; 
re trust. tt» extend in a hund»le 
he l)i»unds of lium:'n knowledjrr. 
first our work will prul.aMy \*r 
fruitful of re^ults. if ;rivcn lar-rdy 



criticism : anil, hv cumpaiiuL' "■.»iil!ir|i::_^ 
statements and carrfullv wri-jiiiii-' cvi- 
j-nce, arrive in ihi- uci^rlih.irimo 1 «»f inuii. 
We mav thus cnnct-t errors in e'xi>iiiiL' 
historical m:it»rial; a-nl I'V |»nhli.'li- 
inix mill hv dit^u^-i^l• th«'S«- (•••n-iM-tin:!* 
^ivc ilic tutnn' l;i>lorian tin- nn-an- >.[' 
historical side. and ex])ended r.jMui : siei riii;i clear of cnor. 
ranches, r;ri//(W/o/} an<l in'* •<( I'miins,. On:* of lia- earliest jiiei-:'- ..f work u:i- 

U.s consider these two hram In-s <.t' il.-r tia- head of r.,ii,.'t't,!,i \\\\\ !»,' a l»il.ii«.- 

I 

Sed work : C^tUt-rlJntl of llislorie :1 ;j;i;;jn'iy erf tjn' Th-ld Ue |iI-o|m.-c to 1H-- 

ial referf? to the juist, j.rr m i rat.'-i,. fUj)y. i!i.i: i> lo say. alphMli.-jjcil li-i-i.i" 
present and the future. lii.- mithors, and of all hooks, i.a'-*- r-. 

'Work of Collecting' murt he pre- ■ i!i;i>:;i>:in.- ariieli.'s, rcvi'-w-. pampliI-.-t-^ 
hy ascertainiuir wlial there i> ii: npi n.;.niiscfi|it^ jM-rtaii.i.'-i: to ilii^ ii-- 
nco in the form of hi. .•!;>. mami- 1 iri-n. Tin- iinie mi-v ei.ni.-. wla-n. i.j 

s, traditions. nn>nument'<. relie> ' jjcn of ilir.-.- ll.-i.-, wc mav !.a\f ■ !;•■ thin - 

• • I 

c; aud. then, «d" rescuinir -ueh ' thems.Iv<-s : hut ne;inwl,;!.- .-ii<h Ii-*.- 

ial froui the <lanp*r (»f lo--. If a will prov.of the hi::hi>t -i rviei-. ajei I 

has ]»een i»uhlished on the hi.-iory ! tni.-t Siimj- of «»ur m«-nilii r> will find 

* region, and thi< h.)t>k di-iril> i- 



hrouglnnit the lihraries «»f the 



the l«-i.-ure an<l the lijeiinat'.«»n \i> h.- 

•du them ; hut, I forewarn vn'i. 'le-h :« 

, the facts, and the fancii-s tM«i. ' w'«)rk will uoi. in the vuli::!:- -en-*- oi 

it contains, arc almost ahh^.ilute- ! ihat w<»ril. iiav. 'I'heje i- no nji^nev ii. 

ire of preservation. If, t*\\ the ; it, and he who uud.<-rtakcs it. will hav.' 

hjind a manuscript rcconl exi.-ts.!ior his reward, not mouev : i-ut. what i* 

cts c<mtained in it an- in imnd- hittir, — the cousciou>nts- of havin_' 

danger of ]n><, fn»ni lire, from ; done a useful thinvi fi»i hi> io]ii<-mp.- 

or from various acci<li-nts. Fur- j rarir-.-, and tor po-.iiri:\. and tins, in- 

fstatenient.s exist, in eitlur ho.»ks ; dei-.l should !•;• in all tlic w..rk w.- 

niiscripts. whi<h arc knf»wn tt* !)♦■ ■ und«-rtake. our ixjiccted n.-ward. — th- 

?ous. such erroneou> statement.- il . cous'iou-ucs- of h:ivinu' done w»H. liiat 

►rrected. will jri» down as the vcri-, which wt wish our i)redi*ccssor- hati 

ruth a f history. To collret sUch ' doUe for U<. 

f^.'inr/ o» f-fntully scniimhi- it.' Of nil hist..rical maUnul wUkU wv 



lira likely to collect: informiition, 
whothcr written or c)ral, is the most im- 
portant ; but. of tli(*se two, the written 
jind printed are of most value. But 



ports etc. are very cheap as they 
from the press. Their very eh( 
and abundance leads to their d( 
ion ; and this again reacts tc 
the few remaining ones, the prize 



there is also other material which we 

should not neirlect. The various im- ; antiquary and historian. It 8h< 

jdements which ci)nstitute the material i (me of our objects to steadily coll 



for a stu<lv of the earlier civilization are 

ft 

to be sought for, — the ])ottery, the 



range and i)reserve this materia 
illustrates the preservative feati 



stone implements, the crania, the orna-jour work, and shows too, the de 

ity nf doing some things, the 
tan(v of which will be, at fii 
d(urated. 

We should secure coi)ie?, or oi 
of all maps of any part of Sc 
California, since a comparison o: 



ments, the idols, the hieroglypliics, etc, 
etc, all should l)e collected. 

I have sai<l that perservation of his- 
torical material refers li> tlw- prrsent, 
and to the future. This will be clt'arc'r 
when stated in greater detail. 

I]i this lu^w, busy, bustling town nf^ will show the progres.s of settleir 
ours, new enteri»rises are started, I imi»rovements, and, of our gradui 
older <Miterpris(fs are abandoned, or i vaneing knowledge of the geogn 
moditied, s«)cinl liff is changing: and, this region. We sliould take pf 
all su rapidly that within a short lime . sr^ure as full a series of photo| 
it will be ditlieult to trace their be- ; views as possible of this city j 
ginnings, unless a can'ful watch is kept surroundings, particularly print 
of current events by pcM'sons interesti''l. ' all negatives made twenty, or 



Happily iho iiewsjiajjer chronicles 
much of this t\>r us ; but — and here (»ur 



thirty years ago. We should a 
cure a collection of photogra] 



work begins; the newspaper, which : pictures of all those person: 
wc thr«>w into tin.' waste basket to-»lay, have been i>rominentl3' conneete 
soiui b"conies a historical document the historv o\* this citv and of 
har<l to find. It mav be seriouslv em California, 
(questioned whether it is now p«)ssible to If there are any meteorologi 
Secure a complete tile of the newspap(M*s : cords in existence of the i 

])rior tt) I'^TT, when the signal 
station was established — we on 



or anv of the oMer ones, which have 

■ 

b<'en ]iubli>he(l in this county. If it be 



possible to bring tog«'ther such a file, we obtain the original records, or 
shouM lost; no time in beginning the of them for preservation. We 
colleeiion ; and, should complete it as collect and arrange a complete re 
rapidly as possible. TImmi our work all earthriuake jihenomena. of 
shouM in part be, to save tlu^s<r paj^ers, there is ;»ny account on this coa 
wliich we value so lightly to-day, but tiic earliest date, and then j 
which at the end ofonlv one short de- . this, sc.) as t() make the record i1 
cade become possessiMl of a hijih value, time to time. We should secure 
Various pamphlets, circulars, maps, plete list of all (»bservations whic 
n\Ml estate cin-ulars, current market V(.- I^bvew \u\\v.V^ \w \\\x^ v:v>wv\n ^ ^ 



I, 



St times for the* vU^tfi-niinjitiun of ;il»u:vlaiic(.' nf wurk Id do. 

.ajrnotif deolination or vjirintioii of , Oiii; oi t!u' (•.•ssfiitial flciiicnts fnr tlir 

le^s. Wo should pri'|»:iri' a list of honlthy ^n)wth and lift- (if a si)(*i«.^ty liki- 

liii^^s done, the first vessel to ur- ' ours is pnldieatinn. It is not important 

.m the coast, the fir.-t Spanish = to pnldish niu<-h, hut it is inii»ortant 

r, the first Anieriean settler, tin- to j>uMish that whii-h has a [lei- 

vhite ehild horn, tin* fn'st sleaui ■ nian«!it \nhu'. I'iihiiciiti«>n i-^ one of 

1 on the coast, tin* lirst steam vrs- the tliiuLTs to whieh we should look for- 

in San Pedro, the lirst overland , ward, an^l whieli s!»r>nld In- aJOonn)lish(M| 

I at Los Angeh-s, the first telej^raph | a.- snun as the neans v.iihin «»ur j»ow r 

to Los Angeles, the first railroad ; <hall admit. This ]»nhli,'Mtion Im- a 

• from Loir Angeles, the first train tw<»-foi.l infhi.nee. Jn the lir-t [»!aee. ii 

LiOs Angeles from San Franeisen, ■ stiinrdat«*s meml-iTs to liu- jtrrpavaiioi. 

fir.st hack in Lt»s Ang«'les eily, the , oi' pajurs, hy oirt'rini,Mhr n'-cj-s-ary ou!- 

railway in Los Anijftdrs eiiy. the j let for tln-se i»apcrs al'ttr tl.-cy >!iall have 

Telephone in Los Angeles eily. tlieihn-n pytparcd, a clianml thr««u^h which 

!,orauge trees in Southern C'ali- ! contrii-utors may makr iLcir work 

a, the first orange tret-s in l^nr' An- kjiown ; and, in tlje srroud j-Ia*?- l.y cx- 

citv, the first rinevarti in (alifor- eiian-'iiiiX ^hrs*- i)uhli(ati«>n I'nr likr lud"- 

'he fir.st vineyard in Los Anueh> lii-aiions hv odier similar -orirt!.-- wr 

the lirst eottun raise«l in Sou:ln-r:. nuiv i-i!!ar:^e our ii«'ld of knowlrdur and 

« 

,\»rnia, the fir.-t pepp«-r tnc.-. iIil- n « uvr iVi>li siimii]n>for fnithrrnsi a!( ii. 

euealyptus trees, tin- lii:-t slnt-t i'i;l»ii.ali«»!i. liicii, shouM i'«- '■onirnipl.ti- 

led in this city, the first s<-Wi-r ni:i«l«- cd : anl ii*- acrtimplishe'l k'-p: in vi. .\ . 

Iii.s citv, the first reservoir for irri- wii'iwve:- •■■nr inclination aiid resourc > 

m, the first gas work-;, tin- lir.-t will permit. 

r works and wat .-r j»iin's. the fir^i It may 'm- donhtrd whelln r tlii- tiiin 

ric light for streets, tlu" first Mo«nlr<l will In- JM-u-ncd hy a larj:( ui'inlM-r-iiip. 
OS, cattle, sherp. fowls and hogs ;' In .dl soriciirs tin-re is ;.dway< a lar.i 
fivftit honev lu-es, the first mine.-, ar- oere.'iiiaL'e of non-aetiv«' mi minT.- ; -li.d. 
m and (jil wells, the Ihsl hvdraulie the vi-^or and usei'ulne.-s of a *«Mi(!v i- 
, the fir.st nuhlie liirhls in tin* streets. ' ;:en« rallv. nav almo-l univei-.tliv I'.-ui.:! 

first ostrich hatched, tin* tirst silk t<» hi pr«iporiional, not tt» it^ l«>t.Ml ni'-n.- 
e, the first camel introduced, tiie _ hership, hut proportional to the nnns- 

[lotato hug lo arrive. , her of workers. A stM-iety of only t<-n 

rst things are (^ften minotieed, hut mendjers, all interested and active wi-rk- 
n it i.s t«H> lat«-. the limes of iheir ers. uiight, therefore do more to coIIim f 
pening are often eagerly sc^ight t'«»r. and [iiesirve hi>torieal material than a 
\ our husines.- to look for, and re- soci«'ty having ten. or lw<-nty tinn - a- 
I them heft»re it is tot* late. 'many memhers indjued t»nly with tin 

ou will i»ereeive, gentlemen, that if ith-a td' enti-rtaining each tither \\ilh 
do not Work, Jind hv workini: de- remini.'^cenee.s an<I hist<»rieal es>avs 
fc/// A'/v/J/Jjv ;ij)il vi;:(»roU.s i:r«>wlh, it nnele up of alreadv ctdhcled an<l 
a/r //'/Z^/y^v Ar ///•tv///.>t'///eyv ;> ;;o,* jm^ervefl material. Large lueudu rship 



is not a ;:ron«l in itsoll'. Vnr many pur-jly to pil«" up matter in a b 
])Oses a small mi^mliorsliij) is Ix'ttcr than j<'Ot to <l«.'stTuetii)n from fire, 
a largo one : — l»uhoM oin* Xational House or rohhery. or from milde^ 
of Repre^rntatives, with its mon^ than jiests, or csirrless jruardiaur 
Tln'ce hinnlrnl nH'mhrrs; an«l, helioM al-i/'f/*, from preserving historic 

s«), how th<' small eommitttr' of liftei'ii, ' W(? mav i)reserve historieal 

i ' 

with its -nh-fr)mmitt«.M* nf thr«Ms controls ' the onlv kn<»wn wnv in whi( 

l«;,n' shit ion. \V«^ slsonM not. hv anv , sil)l(' to pn^sc^rve it, ami nc 

' ' I . . 

means, r«M)vl anv siM-k.-r afrcr mem)»er- : eahinct. or lihrarv, or ev( 

s!iil», exr< pt wiili the very irreat^^-t can-, when, from tlie ahinuhmt eh 

tir.u ; liiit. .'it the same time, we >hall not j<laily events we s(»rl t»ut th« 

',u\u\ miieh lielp towanl< eoll^'r-tinL^ ami i fa<^ts, <livest thesf stuffed st 

ores.'rvinir histitrieal material simolv hv ; their llatterv and falsehood 

iiK'reasiiiL^diir memln'i-.-hij). N^r -h<iuld as inijiariially as we may w; 

we. in my opini»»n, <"onf"r m'miKrshij» well or Xapi)leon, and then 

enaske;] ^.loin anv indivi'l'.ial, ni'-relv to , ei.»l(l, clear narrative of ev 

Teljert -« »mt' dl^ti Metion iijum < lurseh-rs. I world, We pieserve history. 

There is a temptation fur voutjiful (iru-aii- iisli an article an<l send it t 

I 
e/rMiijn-' to a.i ii':"-?. notiec lu ihemsriver. ; lihraries. that article can 

l:y playinu tie* ]»art of patron-^ t'.» sonje i prirh;d>ility he lost, i-xeep 

•.li--in.u:uishe.i i:i.li\ i-.juai. I'nle^s ih'- ! .-t ruction of ilnise ten li 



-t»ei<*tv shall irive more lioiior in ht-iow- ' :;reat lihrari's of tin? worh 

injr its meiiilM.T-iiip. than it receives l>y ■ h: en ;.Mi;irde<i with the most 

<U('\i h.'stowal, rlh'U. in mv "i)ini«»;i. it i-'and. tlie he^-t mo'le «»f presei 

' I . ... . 

'•••r(er n.it h) h'-ti.'W i(s (Juhiiin:dy li.vn- ie;;l material is, to ileposit e 

• -rary m«'in''»'r-li:|:, until .-U'li he-i..\vai ' hist"rie:;l mati-rial in a ;ri 

will l>e a !:-iinetion <r<"lirai>!<'. in the wliere it stands not one eh 

iiiifhest di-LM*".'. to the snejctv and to I h:' ! tIi«)U:-and of hein;^ lost to th 

leeipii i!t^ : hut. ir i;:«.n u-.t !.»•• sail'] V done ! it *-ta:cls si.) much as om 

I ' * « I 

uuMJ we i'Mve olaeid ti.e soeiciv at one tlc'usaud, of loss, tlie p 
-oni'- <]i-t:)ii-'-', >om:* ve;ir-; if vou piease, on" tlevusand to one tliat it 

! 

from t]i" "■'• )-*iiution framing ep«,;-ii in- ; thousand y«'ars in one li!)» 
;-i«!»'iir to«':irlv iir<'. ti:o:isand vi-.-irs in ten lihra 

In •l-'eifli i^ i: »on e.»in':-.".' of :-riIoii to liinid!":-! rhousanil vears in < 
!i<- pu.rsui-'l r"-o'Miiii!^ va;'i'.!i- <.'i-->lions. li'-raric's, '. i. if a printed hi 
a-! tjn'v ari-e. h.-t fis h'-'[» r:i;i.«ta'i' Iv in .' umi-iit is to-dav di'])o-tited in 
vi».w iliat .li- ttlii.'.'t ofiiiU -■■i"ictv i*^ to.re.j rjftle-' leadinir lii)raries 1 
<'.»Ii»'''i and to preserve ill -.lorical mat(.-ri-|it i< proI);ihhMhat «»ne hmidr 
:\\. ■■! ean'l'iilly j.i«-k up, month hy m«»m]i, . years must elapse In-fore 1 
tlie mal«-rial wliicli the printinir i)ressiwiil have hi-en lo.st to the Wi 



111' Itlill^iiill itiiiv.i lll« I'liilttll,.^ J»i\..^.-^l»»iil llil^v in II* i''.Tll''til' 

turn-^ out. autl to uinnow froni it li'stor-; The uV"a\ \vv>\vn\\v:a\\ 

• .1 . _.*.!. ... 1 1 ... . ". 1 1 \ .^A .. _- A \^^* ..«.v>>\' 



i«'ai iMii'eri.il : aiel to ])r''S''rve il Uy lU'-yoOwev v\\v\ \\v>\^ \vvV*^*^'^'^' 
rz/yir'*///. .'/;:. -.//)i;i' .-{nd puld^shuv^ ■. — Voy,\ v.\>*n\ V\\v\w \\va\ v-^A^^'^"^ 



.wvt 



»»' 



Kiet* 



eA ti 
najrno, 



uiicinatii'iil i>reci>ion in uiulovi- . l.i*t im.- illu>irati.' tiii> i^l^ji. In rhf 

Jftrjiiirlit liiH'>. Siuimn r of ISlii a >in:ill ikivmI rrrc*- nf 

'fftnrical fvi-iit, j^rcat or small, tin* rnili-l Stato t<M»k i»«.>sr--i. mi nfCal- 

; it hr an insurn'ctit»n lliat is it'tunia noitli ufan'l inclii'liri.u San Oic^ni. 

Wed at its hirlh. or oni* that dv- witliont any rrsi-tanri" having Imiii nia'h 

..alsuvrreijrn, chanjirs a <lvnastv, Kv citiirr iln- jHonli- «»r li.t- 'ji'VirnnK'tit 

, I \w!i a uovL-rnnient and alti-rs tin .if ihc ti rriiorv. Tlu- h«a«lr« ni'tln- rivil 



£ 



first 

in* pcopk*. 



ni, which may havi' hi-rn for I'tiUy. yri \\ilhi>ut o|i[»'i.-.itiMii liv t«>ni- 

.\ :S nursed and nurtured in ih" niainl. 

I I 

Within io- lh:in thn-*- nmiuhs tVoiu 



<nir lace of the historical col- i|,,. limi- of the lakini: i-f ihi> iio>si'>.-io:i 
'on ... 

'. =* I whidi is sketched in IsvisiiUL: : ;.!:,1 wiiho.it anv aid or i neourairenu-nt 

!l'l tl. ..." 

' *.incal Jint.-s. the trail.- of events, fr..-:! ahroad. ihi^ sUNiuis-ivi- ]»eo{»li-. 
'.< cit*' .' , 

* laces so slight as t«) he hanlly |,.'..pl,. ju nowiM- train-d t" :;i-ni.-, ni: re 

f . L Others swelliuir out hroadly. ;,..r.{rrs nf i:ui1m and tilli-r- of vinevar-N. 

* tin* 

''. aptin almost disappearinL^ • \viih..nt ixuv nre-rnt or pr«»^i.e«-tive sni»- 

r ^i^ain increa.-ing in size, mitil i.jv ,,f mijitarv st^n-. rosi- n)» aitd n')»o>- 

■_■ , /nlv ])Ursi forth ir.lt* nolahly ....ss,-.l lii.Mnsrlv!'- ofn.-iriv ailtin'eonie 

ded in • : • .■ Af ' 1 

. . -r- try and towns xi'.un ot .M.Mitrrey. aU'l 

. ■ ■ faee uf the colunui Nvhiidi al- I-. .■.!al»li>he 1 tii-* M«'xietin autlserily an<l 

iVtudv of the scientist, the ' ,r,,v.i-nnii"!ii. '!'•• kn-.\v. aiid t.- in-erih- 
■■r \vr . 

^ . .and ihe philanthfopist and a upon tlie liist«-riral e^dumi. \\!si«h it i- 
' rn* L . . • ■ 

lvnowleil";e of v.ldeh will hi' (d*' our purpose t(» «*i-«'it. tin- ainneies tija: 

'■ ^t henelit tt) nninkind. Tht- vitali/.i d tiial in-ni-n-eiimiarv L'erm in;.- 
hvst . , . .. i . . • • 

aetivity an<l |»o\\cr tni'ler adver>r .--tu'- 

njundiiiii*^. is a snl-.-rct whieli in n.iv 



past (?vent- wouM l»e far more 

m Oil... 1 . 1 • 1 

.t we knew liie cause which 

I. the h 



llllil 

' ■ ihe^^-rm.-. which ^^rew an«l ■ j,;,|m;ii^.,,1 i^ \v.,rlhv tlie stu-lv of some 

* !«i tho.<c hi-torieal evi-nts. ^f the vounL^r m- inh;r.- of ilii.- sor-ictv. 
le tile • ' ' ' 

' a<*c the i>aths of their -irowth and i-speciallv of such onc> as are the 

;.^ attained a i»owcr jjcivalcr than .l.-s^-mdants of Spanish ralifondans. 
1 1'iit I * 



fii-.st . 

.. nies. \ carefully pn-pan-d ln-torie pap«-r 

^*^* .uld thcrefont .strive to iio hack I, p,,,^ ill,. y\^.. .,p.,l (all cf the lloman 

^^^^^^Srical events ahmg the l»ath ('.nji,,!!,. missh.ns of .Mta California. 

^^ ^^^v have moved, until we Und \,i„,^vin.ir how a few, a m.r. handful (d* 

S.- and <li.<covei' the cau.<c that KrJars. wiili lomparativdv no militarv 

1 them, ami then trace their force ( am.- into a countrv in.liahit, d hv 

■LtO 1 ' ' 

•ursc, searcliin<i for the food ^o jarL^.- a numher id' sava-es. and in a 
jji/r J.' ^^^^'. thctn, ;/.v ircyy ;/s tJje ,,p.i,.^. ,,x time. h»ts than sixty vtai>. n- 

^iiost flio hofoj^th^ir final Lk.-.. i..k.. ^wu.^ 



pliytt's of tilt' niissioDS were tri^ntt'il by 
the KriiirH, ami from what f'^rces thesi' 
threat works, and those fhoiissamls "f 
ni'ophitCH liavo in the cinirsi? of tlie 
no.Nt following; sixty yonr^ alnn-nt i!ii- 
liri-ly ilisapimaroil, wmiM \r.y nf nins-h 
iiiti'rest, not only in the dislant fiifnrp, 
Init pvm iiKW. To aiyr-st 'lasly I'vcnts, 
to iirrimsi- in Drilcr, ton-jwl flu' fiini-iful 
and thr- tiotitiims, to -■ondi^ns,' all into a 
^■I.'an nv-ord. and tln-n inddis!. anrl .U^- 
trilmt" tlii.^ iuilili^iati.in; thiy, in my 
■ ipinioii. is ihf- way Xn pri^jii^i've hislory. 
Thi- <oci.-ty in;!y. v-ry wis.,-ly, lo-.k ' 
torward t.i l.ln.> tiini' wli.^n it shall have a 
ImililinK and lilirary and archivi'!' of its 
iiwi) ; hnt. Till- this \v tiffd )iot inahc 
hust.'. W- niav l.-aii .^n.Tfr.'ti.' and ns,- 



t'nl society and have none of theB« 
may hnve thtnn all and nothing 
the form hut not the life of a s 
If wo i/an catch the rijj;ht cpirit, ])e 
miri^idvos that v/c liavu tmnded to 
for acci>ni]ilisliing repults henefic 
Iho fntnrc, whvn wc shall he at res 
aiv not working for the cntertainn 
onrselvt-i", or for jioimlar applauF 
shall then, in my opinion, have mi 
ri^'ht start ; and may connt upon 
ful earcfr, which whall win the la 
vi'nlict, not of the daily newflpapt 
ofthf fiitnii' historian, who will 
us, whf-n we aicr not heiX' to recc 
thanks for planiiin'Ziind fur cxecut 
wis.'ly. 

J. J. Wak 




fil 

AM 

)o 

) 

at 

f 

I 



Oil 

( 



^STORICAL SOCIETY 



Southern CiiuruKi\ii.i 



LOS ANGELES. 



JANUARY. 18!<- 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



Southern CsLiFORNm. 



LOS ANGELES, 



JANUARY 1888. 



ORGANIZATION 1885. 



PRESIDENT: 
John Mansfield. 



VICE-PRESIDENTS : 
A. F. OoRONBL, Ira Mors, J. J. Warner, Isaac Kinley. 

SECRETARY : 
C. N. Wilson. 

TREASURER: 
J. M. Guinn. 

GENERAL COMMITTEE : 

H. D. Barrows, E. W. Jones, George B. Griffin, E. Baxter, 
J. B. Niles, J. C. Oliver, Mrs. A. F. Coronsl, J. Adam, 

H. S. Ormb, N. Levering. 

SECRETARY OF COMMITTEE: 
George B. Griffin. 

CURATOR: 
Prof. Ira More. ' 



ORGANIZATION 1886. 



president: 

Isaac Kinley. 



VICE-PRESIDENTS I 
H. D. Barrows, E. W. Jones, Ira More, J. Adam. 

secretary: 

J. C. Oliver. 

treasurer: 

J. M. GUINN. 

general committee: 

J. J. Warner, C. N. Wilson, E. Baxter, C. N. Earle, H. S. Orme, 

John Mansfield, A. F. Coronel, C. F. Lummis, 

N. Levering, W. E. Reed. 

secretary of committee : 

C. F. Lummis. 

curator: 

Prof. Ira More. 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



LOS ANGELES, 18 



REMARKS OF PRESIDENT MANSFIELD. 

Qenllemen of Ike Society : — Before introducing ray succeBsor, I beg 
a say, that since our last annual meeting, we have labored under many 
isad vantages. 

Our Society is yet without a hall or place of meeting, except by 
■•ourtesy of the (Jity Council. 

Itfl Cabinet and Library, though well located as to care and safety, 
9 necessarily somewhat remote from our place of meeting ; rendering 
t inconvenient to many for consultation. 

The intense personal interest of the public in business matters — 
hcludiug some of our own members — combine to diminish attend- 
ance and membership, together with such a degree of uncertainty as to 
where the next meeting would be, would not, perhaps, justify a charge 
of being fugitive in character; but one of being somewhat scattered 
H migbt well be maintained. 

^p Nevertheless, from the reports of our officers as to operations in 
^nheir several departments, I am justified in taking a hopeful view of the 
^Khture, and of our ultimate success. 

^K Experience has demonstrated that in all organizations of human 

Hlociety, whether it be the extension of commerce, the intricacies of fin- 

B mice, or the more wonderful development of science and the higher 

forms of education, calculated to expand and enlighten the mind of 

man^snccess does not so much depend upon numbers as upon the zeal 

of those constituting the body ; howerer small that may be, in accom- 

ishing the work in hand. 



6 lilSTOR!CAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

Of some of these zealous workers of which our Society is blest, and 
to their unflagging efforta and perseverance I am enabled to report 
a healthy progress during my administration. 

Our regular monthly meetings have been held — though under 
some difficulties — during the entire year; at nearly all of which inter- 
esting papers have been read, followed by spirited discussions of the 
subject treated, with great interest and profit. 

As an evidence of our standing and the character of your work, 
li is gratifying to be enabled to state that some of our meetings 
have been honored by the presence of many distinguished pei-sons, 
whosa names are familiar to the scientific and literary world. Among 
them may be named that eminent botanist Dr. Asa Oray, of Harvard, 
&Bd his assistant Professor Karlow, of the same institution. Later on, 
we had the pleasure of meeting and listening to an able paper by Pro- 
fessor Moses of our own State University. 

These incidents are mentioned to impress upon your minds the fact 
— though in infancy as to time — our character and object is such as 
to arrest the attention of men of thought and culture, whose encour- 
aging sympathy we have and whose instructions we enjoy. Meanwhile 
our Library has considerably increased, and our Cabinet enriched by 
rare specimens of great historical value. 

It is to these our attention should be specially directed. Their 
number and character should be a source of pride as we advance; for 
we are the hook-makers of the past for the benefit of the future. 

Every specimen is a volume, and every class a series, unfolding the 
great events of the past with more eloquence in their rent forms and 
scarred surfaces, than human language can portray. 

That this country is rich in evidences of this character, is too well 
demonstrated by the collections we have, to leave room for doubt ; and 
nothing should prevent further research in this direction, where results 
seem so certain and the reward so great, instead of yielding to that 
indifference to which mankind is so prone. 

It was my privilege on assuming the duties of the chair at the com- 
mencement of the year, to indicate a method by which this work might 
be performed. 

Unfortunately for us. as I think, the plan which seemed so feasible 
to me, was not acted upon. Whether this was owing to its want of 
Dtdity, or that indifference that characterizes so many in all human 
societies, remains yot an unsolved problem, I venture, however, at the 
risk of some criticism, to re-state in a general way, the method propos- 
ed, in the hope that it may be re-examined, and if found practicable, it 
may be put in operation under the new administration ; if not, to con- 
aider some other one iu which we may all unite and push on our work. 

The plau suggested contemplated a division of the Society into 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



^KMctioBs, embracing various branches of scientific reseai-ch, and history 
^rproper; with chiefs of divisions, tinder whose direction and supervision 
the work of each section would progress ; and from whom a report 
would be made to the Society as the work advanced, or was concluded. 
This method I deemed of great practical importance, and regret that it 
did not meet with a more ready response from our organization. 

As another means of growth and increased usefulness, I suggest 
that the teachers and pupQs in our Normal and High Schools be admit- 

»ted to the reading and discussion of papers and subjects before the 
Society. 
The effect of this will be to awaken a lively interest in historic and 
scientific work, in persons availing themselves of this privilege ; to large- 
ly increase our membership, and add to our working force; who will by 
this means be prepared to take our places as we fall out by time, or 
other causes. So that with a reasonable efl'ort, and the adoption of wise 
methods, I indillge the hope that at no distant day we may have a lodg- 
ment and place of our own, in the shape of a suitable hall, with Libra- 
ry, Lecture-room and Cabinet ; that will be creditable to us as founders 
and add increased facilities for the further study of history and exper- 
imental science, and furnish themes for thought, research and intelligent 
dlEcussion. 

Success, however, is largely in our own hands. It depends upon 
impressing others with what we believe ourselves. And though many 
may be lacking in time or studious habits, they nevertheless recognize 
the value of our work, and being possessed of means may be willing to 
assist in a financial way to our success, in the establishment of this hall, 
where themselves and families may for all time reap a substantial intel- 
lectual benefit, 

By reference to the Treasurer's report, it will be seen that a res- 
pectable balance to our credit remains in that officer's hands; and I 
respectfully nsk that a sinking fund be established for lot and building 
purposes. And I hope yon will not let the contrast, great as it is be- 
tween the amount available for this purpose, and the kind of building 
we hope to get, deter you from manfully meeting the apparent imprac- 
ticable problem, with a determination to solve it in our own and the 
public interest. 

This plan you will observe, reaches out into the future — for the 
benefit of othei-s as well as ourselves — and in my view one of the legit- 
imate and practical purposes of oar organization. To maintain that 
our work is for to-day only — or to gratify a personal ambition in any 
Of the forms our organization might oflfer — is an unworthy conception 
of the duty we owe ourselves and the public, and beneath the character 
id dignity we have assumed. 

The study of history has engaged some of the greatest minds in the 



\ 



8 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

annals of time — and to the student and philosopher it has a triple value. 
It cultivates and disciplines the mind, and enables one to reason from 
a standpoint of logic and abijolute truth, and to determine fact from fic- 
tion — truth from error, and romance from reality. It elevates and refines 
the tone of thought and speech, and begets a love for study and research 
after the exact truth, and clothes its possessor with a panoply of intel- 
lectual manhood, that commands the respect and confidence of all with 
whom he comes in contact. 

Armed with these attributes — supplemented with a store of irrefn- 
table facts, culled by the patient labors of historic research — one can 
meet and overcome wherever found, the charlatan and quack who bask 
in the sunshine of simulated truth, and flourishes upon the spoils of 
the indifferent and thoughtless. 

These, likp the pooi-, forever abound. They are found in all pro- 
fessions and callings, and iu all organizations of human society. So 
that from self-preservation from their iniquitous humbugs, and the duty 
we owe to mankind, another potential reason is furnished why we 
should energise our work ; and if possible increase our labors of the 
present over the past year. 

An eminent writer has said the study of history should be en- 
tered upon to ascertain the law upon which the great events of the 
world depend; and above all, to the young, and citizens of a free 
State, is its study vitally necessary, that they may familiarize them- 
selves with the principles that have influenced the good or ill fortune 
of the Nations that have preceded them, or are cotemporaneous with 
their own. 

If these propositions in social and political ethics are true, our 
duty to ourselves — to society and the State — should inspire us to con- 
tinue our work in the line indicated, with an unalterable faith in ulti- 
mate success ; and if not moid — some time in the future it will be appre- 
ciated and acknowledged. 




F 



; INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT KINLEY. 

It is in the Hue of precedent to prefaee the acceptance of an lion- 
orable posilion, such as that yon have assigned mo, by a more or less 
formal iiiangural address. 

In the first place, permit me to endorse with emphasis the reeom- 
mendatious of the retiring President. Division of labor, whether of 
iotelloet or muscle, is essential to eminent success. As our little society 
is yet in its pupilage, so to speak, we cannot hope to take rank with 
associations whose members are veterans in scientific research. But, 
profiting by their example, we may follow their methods until a better 
has been shown. Hitherto we have been gathering together the laborers 
and disciplining ourselves for the work. We are now sufficiently num- 
erous to be organized into divisions and subdivisions; and though we 
cannot put laborers into every field, yet for such as we can occupy, we 
may reasonably expe ct better and more thorough work. This subdivision 
mnst have the tendency to throw on each worker the respousibility of 
his department, and from the very fiict that work will be expected, work 
will be done. Some unoeonpied fields must lie fallow for the present ; but 
we are in constant accession of new members, taste for scientific research 
is being developed, and we can reasonably hope soon to have workers 
in those fields as well. The association being thus organized and 
equipped, the several sections would be expected to make a monthly 
report of progress in their respective departments. That this will 
greatly add to the interest of our meetings, will be sufficiently apparent. 

Under the Constitution, historical and scientific investigations and 
collections come properly within the scope of our work. A liberal con- 
struction would include also Art, and other creations of genius and 
skill — these being only science applied. If you decide, as I hope you 
will, to divide into sections and subsections, yon will not find it difficult, 
with the examples of simitar institutions as a guide, to make the neces- 
sary divisions. At first these could be general, making the subdivisions 
according to the number and ability of the laborers tit for duty. Thus 
history would form a very general division. But our constitution is 
somewhat imperative that special attention be given to the history of 
Southern California. We have those among us who were not only 
spectators but the makers of this history. Another reason is to be found 
u the present perishing condition of its records. The old Mission build- 
.ngs are crumbling into soil, valuable old manuscripts are being gnawed 
,nto illegibility by the tooth of time. It would be proper, therefore, to 
form at once a subsection embracing this special subject as indicated 
io our constitution. 



10 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

Ethnology is not hietoiy, but the two sciences are so closely akia 
that each seems to illustrate the other. Under the general section of 
this subject, I recommend the formation of a sub-section embracing the 
ethnology of Southern California. On account of the close relations of 
this part of the State in its early colonial and pre-coionial history, to 
the adjacent countries, these two sub-sections will constitute a wide field 
of labor. 

Again, Philology is a large subject, just now by the labors of Max 
Miiller and other distinguished philologists, furnishing rich stores of 
knowledge. If we should have no member specially qualified or inclined 
to extract Sanskrit and Prakrit roots, we may have more than one well 
fitted for the study of the languages of our native tribes. In this case 
the Indian Languages of the Pacific States and Mexico would form a 
very interesting sub-section. 

A similar course would apply to the Moral and Physical Sciences. 
There are those, aa the physicians, the lawyers, and the ministers, who 
have made specialties of certain subjects, and it would seem not at all 
dtfScult to find workers for their corresponding sections or sub-sections. 

Again, there are those among us whose developed taste for science 
has no reference to their vocations. They study science from the love 
of it. We have a botanist whose fame reaches across the continent. 
Another has added to the geological knowledge of this region. Another 
has written a book, founding his arguments on geological data. Our 
city has an ornithologist of ability. Very plainly we shall be able to 
find workers in tliese sections. 

I have said that Art and the products of labor and skill are only 
science applied. The workers here should be recognized as our fellows 
and admitted into our ranks. Historical and scientific collections will 
be at once a necessity, and an evidence of work done. By the kindness 
of the city authorities we arc permitted to occupy this h(jj. How long 
this favor may be accorded, we cannot know. Besides the necessary 
publicity of this room unfits it aa a place for our collections. Until we 
have a secure place for the deposit of the treasures of history and sciencAi 
we can have no reasonable hope that those haviug such things in their 
possession, will readily give them into our keeping. Even our own 
members will not readily contribute valuable specimens wltliout reason- 
able a^urance of their preservation. Our society is an educator and 
specimens should be properly classified and labeled, and should be 
placed in a position accessible to the scientist and to the general publio. 
I recommend therefore that a suitable hall and other apartments be 
provided at the earliest time practicable. 

Knowledge is a treasure not lost by being communicated. The 
cultivation of a taste for the study of science in a community is a pre- 
servative against crime aud vicious habits. Indeed, there is not a virlne 



r 



HISTORICAL SOCJBXr OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. \\ 

that science does not endorse, not & vice it does not condemn. More 
than this, it demonstrateB that a noble aot ennobles the actor ; a vicious 
one niakea war against the perpetrator himself. Very important, there- 
fore, is it that every one should be able to see the relation between 
action and if-s consequences — to see that virtue rewards and vice pun- 
ishes — although the act bo unknown to all save its author. Science is 
indeed a reinforcement to all the virtues. Let us, therefore, open our 
doors alike to all. Let all who will, come aud hear. It will at once 
cultivate the public taste aud improve the public morals. More than 
this, in proportion as the public taste for science is developed, will peo- 
ple seek to become members with ns, assist in our work, and contribute 
to our funds. I therefore unhesitatingly recommend that our doors be 
thrown wide open that all who desire may enter and hear. 

All science is knowledge, but all knowledge is not science. Science 
' is knowledge systematized — knowledge of phenomena with relation to 

I'Canses and consequences. The whole works of man, of whatever kind, 
form a grand labratory of scientific experiment, successful or otherwise, 
■ according as nature's conditions are followed or disregarded. The gi-eat 
good to be derived from the general diffusion of scientific knowledge 
and the development of scientific taste and modes of thought, ought to 
be sufficiently apparent. Every organism — aninial or plant — is the 
Creature of its environment, developed or degraded according as this 
']tas been favorable or unfavorable to organic growth. Nature knows 
no excuse, admits no exceptions. Her laws are as unchangeable as 
the chaflglless God who is their author. All nature is governed by 
law. Nafcre is law. Themis sat on the throne with Jupiter to counsel 
and adviie, and the fates were her daughters. Science is founded on 
tiie universality of law. Without this no science could exist. In the 
Bystem of nature accidents have no place; and all ideas of chance are 
contraband in scientific investigation. There can be no effect withont 
a cause, and no cause without effect. He to whom this does not come 
with the force of a self-evident truth, may be a visionary of fantastic 
illusions, but can be no scientist. 

Nature knows no contradictions. The eternal God has made all 
things to conform. The universality of law as an idea, as a thought, as 
a philosophy, has come to the human mind in the evolution of the ages. 
First in mathematics it was discovered that to its laws there are no 
exceptions. Gradually the mind passed from a belief in a multiplicity 
of Gods to that of one God. Slowly, through the ages it awakened to 
the grand conception that this one God in nature aud of nature, above 
and over nature, is a God of law, and that He, and He alone, rules. 

Two hundred years ago, as in some countries to-day, comets, 
eclipses, and shooting stars ware ascribed to the malign powers of the 
nniverse. Two hundred years ago there were those who believed that 



» 



12 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



1 



God divided TTIb dominion with the devil, and that storms, oyolone% 
and earthquakes were special miracles wrought by the genius of evU. 

The universe has been said to be the thought of God. The great 
astronomer Kepler when reasoning out the laws since known by his 
name, exclaimed in devout enthusiasm, " I am rethinking the thought 
of God." The same may as well be said of all scientific ti*uth. The 
spire of grass and the dew-drop are no less t^han the planets and suna, 
the creatures of His law. Sir Isaac Newton said, " The undevout astron- 
omer is mad." But he is no more mad than the undevout chemist, thtf 
u nde von t botanist, the undevout geologist, the undevout in every depapt»| 
ment of science. In all things is the univereal law. When Newton di»-. 
covered gravitation from the fall of an apple, he applied it at one* 
to the solar system, and found there the planets obeying the same lav. 
And now comes the doctrine of the correlation of forces — demonstrat- 
ing that where light is, there must be gravity — and all systems an 
obeying the universal law of gravitation. Again, the spectroscope if 
applied to the sun and the stars and the fur off nobulsc, those universes 
beyond our universe, and we find there too a confirmation of the univer- 
sality of law. The laws of one planet are those of all planets. The 
laws of one sun are tliose of all suns; and rising with the gi-andeur of 
the thought, the laws of one universe are the laws of all universes. The.- 
application of the scientific method to the historical investigation hasl 
been fruitful of result. While some new facts have been discovered* I 
many fallacies have been eliminated and remanded to the domain oC'l 
myth. 1 

Among not the most trifilng discoveries is that, here, as in the phy» 
ical universe, is the reign of law. It is indeed by virtue of this fact that 
history can be thought of as a science. If we cannot always follow 
the chain of causation, enough is known to predicate that it exists, and 
that the facts of history are the necessary consequences of antecedent 
causes. 

It has been further found that there is moral as well as physical 
law, and that chance is eliminated from nature's whole domain, 

It is to this fact — the elimination of the idea of chance, the substi-l 
tution of effect for accident — that modem education owes its superioritg^fl 
to ancient culture. It is from this that the mind learns to reason &ndl 
to rely as confidently on legitimate conclustous, as on the principle audi 
phenomena from which these have been deduced. ■ 

It is to this fact that modem freedom of thought has taken the 
place of ancient bigotrj', and that persecution for opinion's sake is fast 
becoming an obsolete idea. So soon as it is thoroughly understood that 
opinion is the result, not of the will, but the understanding, and that it 
can only be changed by this being improved or degraded, we shall 



r 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 13 

to regard opiaion as a crime, and learn to correct the errors of others 
by increasing their knowledge and enlarging their understanding. 

We have learned, therefore, not to cast into the teeth of denomin- 
ations and systcmis of government, the persecutions of the middle ages* 
but to ascribe them to the ignorance of the times. It was not catholics 
and protestauts and infidels persecuting one another, but the age itself 
that kindled the flames for the burning. 

In this depth of thought, reason excuses the mistakes of reason ; 
and forgiveness of our enemies, love for our fellow beings, and charity 
for all, as the noblest of sentiments, become also the deepest philosophy. 
Hence it is that now opinions are not merely tolerated, but conceded ae 
a right. 

This, then, the scientific method has done for the world. From 
confusion of thought it has evoked harmony. From chaos it has brought 
the Cosmos. 

A colaborer with the amiable virtue of charity, it has softened tlie 
asperities of bigotry, soothed the passions of opposition, and pointed 
out the way for the harmonizing of the relations of each to all and all 
to each. The thoughts of the mind reacting upon the mind itself, have 
given a broader culture and a greater grasp of comprehension. 

To every subject of investigation the rigorous method of the scien- 
tist is l>eing applied. Knowing that in all things the truth has the 
stronger reasou, knowing that in all things, fearless and unbiased inves- 
tigation is the road, and the only road, to truth, the scientist applies the 
rule, and square, and plummet of inexorable logic to the tests of experi- 
ment, and humbly and fearlessly accepts results without stopping to 
ask whether or not they may consist with previous opinions and pre- 
judices. 

Believing that all things are luminous with the light of infinite 
intelligence — believing that all phenomena are a divine revelation of 
■ that intelligence, devoutly, Nature, I put my face to thy bosom. 



CALIFORNIA IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 

BY J. ADAM. 

Jlfr. President, Members of the Historical Society of Southern Cal- 
ifomia: — Oo January 15, 1876, I delivereil a lecture in Santa Cruz for 
the benefit of the PubUc Library, from whioh I will take to-niglit those 
facts which I deem more interesting for our Society. 

I will avail myailf of a work published at that time under the aus- 
pices of the "California Historical Society" of San Francisco. The" 
reproduction of the work was due to the magnificent generosity of Jo- 
seph A. Donahue, who expended, I am informed, several thousand 
dollars for the printing of one hundred copies. The title of the work 
in Spanish is, " Notias de le Sueve California," by Rev. Father Francis 
Palon. 

Father Palon was the first missionary who planted the cross at 
the Mission Dolores, more than one hundred years ago. 

The perusal of the fourth volume thereof, will furnish material to 
entertain you. 

Emigrants and visitors are amazed on visiting the Cosmopolitan, 
Occidental, and Palace hotels, the magnificent churches of the different 
denominations, the well-paved streets and substantial wharves of our 
great metropolis; and cannot realize that forty years ago, nothing could 
be seen there, save a few old shanties or cabins, studded in the immense 
sand-bills. Explain all this to them and a smile of incredulity will be 
their only response, for it seems a dream. However, more than forty 
years ago, south of San Francisco one might have seen bore and there, 
thirty or fifty miles distant, adobe houses, beautiful orchards, and thous- 
ands of people busy as ants — some plowing the fields, others mounted 
on spirited steeds, throwing the lasso to catch wild cattle which were 
literally covering the plains by thousands : the hammer of the carpenter 
and the anvil of the blacksmith, were sounding through those corridors^ 
and hundreds of women were at work weaving and spinning. 

Was such tlie condition, yon will naturally ask, during the pre- 
ceding centuries I Let us follow Father Palon step by step, and he will 
give us a fair idea of California a little mure than a century ago. 

The principal subject before us to-night is the expedition by land 
in search of the harbor of Monterey, We must join ourselves to Father 
Palon at bis Mission in Lower California. 

The expedition by laud resembled Jacob, who fearing an utlack 
from Esau, divided the people that were with blm and the fiocks, into 
two companies. They first left Villacata with Captain Rivera and twen- 
ty-five soldiers, and Father Crespi and Gomez on Good Friday, Uaroh 



f 



I 



k: 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 15 

24, 1769. They describe their way to San Diego as through a sterile and 
barren country, with no water for their beasts, scarcely enough for their 
personal use. 

On Wliit-Sunday, which fell that year on the 14th of May, they 
safely arrived in .San Diego, and their joy was great when they saw 
anchored at the harbor the pocket boats " San Carlos " and " San Anto- 
nio." The firing of guns welcomed their arrival, and those surviving 
from the expedition by water, ran to embrace their companions who 
eame by land, congratulating themselves at meeting for the first time 
[in Upper California. 

' They waited there till the 2d of July when the eeeond part of 
the expedition composed of Governor Portola and Father Juniper, 
president of these Missions, also safely set foot for the first time in this 
new country. 

The land expedition in search of the harbor of Monterey, left San 
Diego, July 14, 1760. It was composed of Governor Portola, Captain 
Rivera, with twenty-seven soldiers with leather jackets, with Lieutenant 
P. Fages with twenty-seven volunteers of Catalonia, besides, engineer 
Constanzio, and fifteen ChriBtian Indians from Lower California. Father 
Crespi and Gomez accompanied them for their spiritual consolation, 
and to keep a diary of their expedition. 

I am indebted to Father Crespi's diary for the principal items I now 
place before you. 

We will leave Father Junipero at San Diego, busy with the few 
!'40ldier8 and sailors saved from the scurvy, building a provisional bar- 
fack to serve as chapel, store-house and dwelling, aud we will follow 
the expedition by land. 

Prom San Diego to San Francisco they met rancberias or camps of 
Indians, more or less numerous, amounting from three to five hundred, 
and sometimes to a thousand souls, as happened near Santa Barbara. 

Everywhere, with very few exceptions, they found the Indians 
friendly at their approach. They went to meet them, sometimes offer- 
ing them seeds; other times they would throw down on the ground 
their arrows in sign of peace. Generally they would keep to a great 
distance, and would not approach the whites till by many signs they 
would be assured that no harm should be done them- They with the 
greatest confidence would pass sometimes the whole night near the place 
where our party were camping, showing great distress next day when 
they saw them moving their camp to proceed farther, and, as a general 
lie, they had to promise them that they would see them again and 
ime to live amongst them, which seemed to please them. 

Father Cres|}i gave names to every place where they camped at 
night, mostly the name of some Saint, principally of tJie Franciscan 
order, of which he was a member. The soldiers used to give different 



IG HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

names to the places, token from some trivial thing which happened to 
them, or attracted their attention : as for example, pausing near San 
Luis Obispo, they called it " El Buchon," beoauae the captain of the In- 
dians at that place had an immense encystetl tumor hanging from his 
neck, called in Mexican "6hcAow." 

To follow thera step by step would be useless, and woidd take more 
time than is allowed for a lecture; however, as this was the first expe- 
dition by land to Upper California of which we have any record, and 
as the account in full has never been translated, as far as I know, I 
think it better to occupy your attention following the expL 
closely as we can. 

On the 14th of July as I said before, they left San Diego following 
a route near the sea-shore. They perceived a number of hares and rab- 
bits. After making two leagues and a-half, they halted in a place whera 
there were some wells. The night being well advanced, two Indians 
came and one of them made a long speech, of which they did not nnder- 
etaud one word ; and at the end he presented some sardines to the Qov< 
ernor — a magnificent present, no doubt worthy of a king. In return, 
his Excellency gave him some beads and clothes, and as I mention tho 
beads allow me to make a short digression. Some years ago in a place 
called " Patrero," near Santa Ciuz where the Indians were located, ia 
making some excavations there was found embedded an immense quan- 
tity of beads. I cannot account for the manner they came there unless 
in this way: The padres and officers who came to the conquest, as they 
used to call it, to attract them, brought mules laden with beads, which 
they called in Mexican " abolorios." They distributed them with great 
profusion throughout their journeys. Speaking once with the Indians 
they told me that in the old times, some Indians had great quantities 
of these beads, and it was their custom to have their ornaments buried 
with them. Hence, perhaps, the great quantity of them found iu their 
camp. 

Last September while at Santa Cruz I saw many bones exhumed^, 
and in some of the Indiana' graves we saw pieces of beads, and clay 
pipes buried with the remains, which proves beyond contradiction that' 
the Indians liked to be burled with their trinkets. 

On the 18th of the same month we see them in a lovely valley, 
where the Indians, naked and painted in d'dTerent colors, came to weU 
come them. It seems they used that: suit of clothes — I mean a coat ef 
paint— only when they made a ceremonious visit or in time of war. 
They were all well armed with bows and arrowa, Tho Captain made a 
speech and then they all let their arms drop down to the ground. The 
women, says Father Crespi, were modestly covered with deerskins. 

They ifave to this place the name of San Jnan Capistrano — which 
name it yet retains. 



1 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



ICabrillo entered Upper CftliforniaQ waters in September, 1542, and 
te believed that he anehored at San Diego Bay— ht> sailed north in 
uctober 3d, and according to some he visited the island of St. Oatalina, 
where he found the inhabitants timid and even hostile at first. Ou 
Snnday the Spaniards went ashore in a large bay, which they ealled 
" Bahia de los Fumos,'' or " Firegos," from the smoke of fires seen there. 
Henshaw makes this Bahia de Fumos — Bahia Qua (or Santa Monica). 
Hanta Monica, as Bancroft observes in his notes, was exactly what the 
Spanairds would have called an " enseiiada ; '' indeed they did often so 
call it in later years, as they did also Monterey Bay and San Francisco 
outside the heads, from Pt. Reyes to Pij^eon Point, always the " Eusefi- 
kda de los Pallones." Bancroft is inclined to believe the port thoy vis- 
\ to have been San Pedro. 
But, returning to our explorers — we see them on the 28th camping 
r a river that they called Santa Ana, or Jesus de la Temblores, on 
Konnt of having terrific earthquakes all that day and night. During 
9 earthquake, says Father Crespi, an Indian, who probably was acting 
B priest amongst them, got very much alarmed, and raising his hands 
B turned to the four winds with horrid screams, praying to heaven. 
We see them on the 2d of August where Los Angeles city is now 
l^tnated, near a river which they called " Porziuncula." On that day 
the Francisttans celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Anguls — hence, 
probably, the present name of " Los Angeles." From Los Angeles 
the route lay through the valley of Santa Cataltna de los Eneinos, 
now San Fernando, and thence northwest through the mountain's 
pass to the head streams of the Rio Santa Clara, so ealled then and now, 
whose banks the Spaniards followed to the sea again. 

On Sunday, 6th August, approaching towards the head of Santa 
Barbara channel, they were visited by some Indians, who had an idea 
of sailing vessels — describing the shape of them on the sand — and made 
signs to them that in other times, white men resembling them had come 
ashore, wearing armor, as the soldiery, and long beards. 

In fact we read in the expedition of Vizcaino, that towards the end 

>02, he passed with his vessels through the channel of Santa Bai'- 

m, which I suppose be so named ; and when at anchor under one of 

e islands, was visited by the King of that country, who came with a 

Jet of boats, and earnestly pressed him to land, offering, as proof of 

B hospitality, to furnish every one of his seamen with "ten wives." 

We would almost be tempted to believe that the Mormons of Salt 

B had their origin in the islands of California. 

Gabrillo, a Portuguese, who had explored the western coast of Cal- 

■nia as early as 1542, tells us that near two large islands he was assur- 

& at some distance there was a nation who wore clothes, and had houses. 

t the location of this nation, our explorer of 1769 could find no trace. 



18 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

However, it was observed that tbe Indians along tbe chaQnel had larger 
tents than the others, and that each family lived in a separte Lut. 

While the explorers were passing by Uauta Clara Cafion, where 80 
many families now have splendid farms, the Indians were in great jubi- 
lation, celebrating the union of a happy couple. They presented them 
to the bride and wanted them to wait for the feast, but (as I suppose 
they had no wedding cake) the whites thanked them and passed on. 
Father Crespi descril:>es their dwellings as composed of a few poles 
struck into the ground, forming a aemi-eircle and brought together in 
a conical shape, with a few bundles of sage-brush loosely thrown over 
it, with au opening at the top that seemed to let out the smoke and let 
in the air and light. 

Near St. Buenaventura, they observed the Indians more industvioaa, 
the women better clad, and their bodies more agile. They were clever 
in making their canoes of pine boards, well matched together and well 
shaped. They used to go out at sea to a great distance. Some fisLing 
boats would hold ten men. All their work was well finished. To work 
out the timber aud stone they did not use other tools thau those made 
of flint, ignoring the use of iron and steel. Nevertheless, says the Father,; 
we found among them pieces of knives and swords, which they used for' 
cutting meat and dressing fish. 

For a few trinkets they exchanged with the soldiers highly polished 
wooden plates. Along the chancel of Sauta Barbara they were th^ 
recipients of very large quantities of excellent fish, which proved 
one of their principal articles of food for a portion of their journey, 
The Indians here were kind, staying near the eamp all night, play- 
iug their fiutes, but with such dissonance that the soldiers had but Uttla 
repose. 

We after passing the " Gaviota" Sea Gull, see them on tbe 20th of 
the same month of August at "Point Conception " — we don't miss them 
through the cafion of Los Ozos. After passing San Luis Obispo, they 
passed near Mono Rock, and at the foot of the Sierra of Santa Lucia* 
not able to continue their journey near the beach, they were obliged to , 
open a path for themselves amongst the most rugged places. 

There the undaunted spirit of Father Crespi seems to have given 
way to so many hardships — when finding himself at the summit of the 
Sierras, in every direction he could not see any end to those mountains, 
" Sod object," says he, " to poor travelers — tireri and fainting thrungh 
fatigue — to have lo open our way through a thick forest, with the sold- 
iery sick and unable to work." But he cheers up imtnedmtely, consider- 
ing that their journey served to the glory of God and to extend the do- 
minion of Spain. Good Father Crespi, if you had known that in half s 
century not one inch of the land you travel could be claimed by yonr 
monarch, you would not be so cheerful in the midst of your trials ! 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



19 



I 



After descending the Sierra a certain distance, they camped near a 
Tiver, which they took for " Rio Carmels," but which wa8 the " Naei- 
miento," whose course they followed for several days till they Anally 
arrived near the long-sought for sea, where the waters of this river bear 
the name of " Salinas." 

Fatlier Crespi and the commandant asceudiug a sand-hill, con- 
templating for the first time, the Bay of Monterey, and recognizing 
Pimos and New Year's Point, as described by the navigator Cabrera. 
You will here exclaim, thanks to God that finally they have ai-rived 
near the so longed-for harbor of Monterey, and we will be relieved of 
the tcdioiisness of following them. My friends, if this is the case, you 
liad better leave us at this point, for we are not yet at the end of our 
journey : but please remain a little longer. 

The soldiers explored Point Pimos both sides ; but they never recog- 
nized the place. It seems that Divine Providence blinded them that in 
order that they should proceed farther north, and make a more inter- 
esting discovery. 

On the 4th of October — Feast of St. Francis — I observe Father 
Crespi, feeling home-sick, and missing his convent ; "two of his sons," 
he says in his diary, " celebrate the feast of Our Father in the New 
World," and as bewQdered, he adds, " and perhaps in a corner of the 
Old World, without any other church or choir than a desert." But when 
the Governor proposed to go back, the spirit of Father Crespi and the 
officers was touched, and at once they said : Let us continue our jour- 
ney till we find the harbor of Monterey, that is tf it is God's will ; we will 
die fulfilling our duty to G-od and to our country." So saying they 
moved their tents, and proceeded north. After crossing the "Salinas 
river," by them called " Sante Delfina," we see them passing near several 
lagoons, and probably through St. Miguel Caiion, they descended into 
Pajora Valley ; and they camped near the bank of a river which they 
named "Pajaro," that means "bird." "Near this place," says Father 
Crespi. we saw a bird which the Indians had killed, ami it was stuffed 
with hay. To some it appeai-ed to be a royal eagle, and from the point 
of one wing to the other, it measured nine feet and three inches, and on 
this account the soldiers called it ' rio del pajaro,' aud we added to it, 
'of St. Ann.'" This river now divides the two counties of Santa Cruz 
and Monterey. 

Not far from this river, the exploring soldiers had seen two days 
previous, tracks of large animals, which they presumed to be deer. 
They also met with an encampment of Indians — numbering at least 
five hundred. As the ludiaus had no notice of the arrival of strangers 
in their land, they became alarmed, not knowing what to do; some took 
to their arms, others running to and fro shouting, while the women 
were weeping most bitterly. Sargeant Ortega had to alight from his 



20 



HISTORICAL SOCIETr OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



h(»rse and approach toward them, makiug signs that no harm would be 
done to them. Ortega picked up from the ground some arrows and 
little flags which they had set in, and they clapped their hands as a sign 
of approbation. On asking them for something to eat, the women has- 
tened to theii- tents and began to pound some seeds and make a kind A-\ 



10£| 

heyl 
firttl 



Next day when the Father and company arrived at this spot, theyj 
saw only smoking remains of their camp— the Indians having set 
to it and deserted the place. 

They deacrioe the banks of the Pajaro river as thickly covered with 
trees. It was near where the town of Watsonvilie now stands that they 
saw, for the fii-st time redwood trees, and not knowing their name, they 
called them palo Colorado (red wood) on account of its color. Father 
Crespi describes these ti-ees as very high, having a resemblance to the 
Cedar of Lebdnon, though they have not the color ; the leaves, too, ar« 
different, and the wood very brittle. 

They also saw in this valley some very large herds of animals with 
ears like mules, and with a tail short and wide, wbtoh can not be any 
other than what zoologists call "eervaa maerotis," or male deer, and it 
is remarkable for its long mule-like ears and large frame. They sav^ 
also there large herds of deer and elk. I 

They stopped near a lake where there was s great deal of pasture, , 
and they saw there a large number of cranes. They rested near the 
lake three days on account of the sick; meanwhile the exploring sold- 
iers proceeded north thirty miles, reporting that they could not find the 
harbor of Monterey. No wonder, for they were reueding farther from 
it every day. 

On tht! 17th they forded the river San Lorenzo, and camped wheiA 
the lovely town of Santa Cruz is now standing; and on the 23d Potn] 
tUiio Nuevo is passed. Their provisions becoming very scarce — vegetSi- 
bles gave out — and they were reduced to five tortillas a day. Eleven 
men bad to be carried in Utters — Portole and Rivera were added to thfl 
sick-list. 

On the 30th they reach a point with detached rucks, or farallonesf 
It is named Point Angel Custodio, and Point Almejas, but is now known ' 
as San Peilro. Ou the last day of October, the whole company climbed 
a hill and gazed ou the sea. Before them is a bay or bight, lying be- 
twet^n the point on which they stand and one beyond extending into 
the sea far to the norlbwej-.t. The travelers recognized these land-marks 
at once as laid down by Cabrere Bueno. The distant point of laud must 
be Point Reyes, aud uuder it lies the port of San Francisco. They d^ 
scended and encamped near the beach known to the Spaniards as 
seiiarela de los Farallones. 

Hear what Father Crespi says ; " Scarcely bad we ascended the 



LS BBaS 

ehuj 



r 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 21 

when we perceived a vast bay, formed by a great projection of land, 
esleiidiog out at sea. We see sis or seven islands, white and different 
size. PoUowing the coast towards the north we can perceive a wide 
deep cut, and northwest we see the opening of a bay, which seems to 
go inside of the land. At these signs, and of what the pilot Cabrera 
says in his sea charts, we came to recognize this harbor; it is that of 
Onr Father St, Francis, and that of Monterey, we left behind. From 
this shore is perceived a point which I believe to be 'Punta Reyes.' 
Some cannot believe yet that we have left behind us the harbor of Mon- 
terey, and thai we are in that of Sun Francisco.'" 

Some soldiers went hnnting and returned to camp, saying that, 
" towards the north they saw an arm of the sea penetrating inland as 
far as they conld see " the actual bay of San Francisco ; " that toward 
the south they had discovered lovely plains covered with trees, while 
the many columns of sraoke rising here and there, left them in no doubt 
but that the land was occupied by Indians. " This assertion, says Fr. 
Crespi, " I'onfirms us more in the opinion that we were in the harbor 
of Our Father St, Francis;" and that what the soldiers saw was the 
bay of which Cabrero Bueno speaks, and whose mouth we had not 
observed descending to the harbor through a deep cut." In this 
Father Crespi was mistaken. The soldiers sent to explore tho coun- 
try discovered by accident the present Bay of San Francisco — which 
Cabrera Bueno never visited or discovered, according to the prevailing 
opinion of modem writers. 

The description given by that navigator, Cabrera Bueno, and quot- 
ed by Fr. Crespi, applies to what we call Sir Francis Drake's Bay, and 
to no other, as to exclude all doubt that the same is the Bay of San 

^f rancisco of the old Spaniards, where the " San Augustine " was lost in 

BiVS, and which Vizcaino visited in 1G03. 

M If such is the case, the present Bay of San Francisco was therefore 
unknown until discovered by Portola's expedition which we have fol- 
lowed faithfully from San Diego. It is nowadays certain, without a 
shadow of a doubt, that this was the first time that the present Bay of 
San Francisco was discovered and visited by laud. 

The 3Ist October should be celebrated in the historical annals of 
San Francisco and Upper California, as a day of remarkable discovery, 
as three centories before; October became celebrated for a greater one — 
that of the American Continent by Christopher Columbus. 

Tuthill, in his recent history of California, pretends that Sir Fran- 

' cis Drake was in sight of San Francisco Bay, and that he gave his name 

Kto the same. He thinks that the Spaniards in time changed the name 
i Sir Francis into that of Saint Francis, The thing seems quite easy 
■only to change one letter and add three others. But it is not so easy 
V imagine that the Spaniards of old would convert a devoted servant 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



lO^ 



of Queeu Elizabeth info a canonized saint of the Roman CatholP 
Church. Besides, I rather af^ree with Raiidolplj, that the actual Bay 
of San Francisco was never visited by Drake or Vizcaino — such glory 
being reserved to the Portola expedition, as tialvez said in a kind of 
prophetic tone, " If St. Francis wishes a Mission let him show his port, 
and he shall have one," Bancroft, in his excellent volumes on Califor- 
nia, removes any doubts on this point, and after reading his chapter 
on this first expedition by land, we have to conelndewith him, that tiie 
discovery of the actual Bay of San Francisco is due to Ortega and a few 
soldiers, who hunting deer climbed the northeastern hills and beheld a 
great inland sea, stretching northward and southeastward, as far as the 
eye could reach, and returned to the camp with the nejvs of tJieir dis- 
covery. The inner bay was not named during this trip, nor for some 
years after ; while the outer bay had been named for more than half a 
century. 

On the 4th of November they broke camp and set out, at first keep- 
ing along the shore, but soon turning iulaud. They crossed the San 
Bruno hills from just above Point San Pedro ; they camped on a large 
lagoon on San Mateo Creek. They suffered from hunger and got sick 
eating acorns. Oti the 11th November they decide to return to Point 
Pimos; on the 28th they reach Carmelo Bay; they remained there till 
the 10th of December ; l>ef ore leaving a large cross was set up on a knoll 
near the beach, bearing the carved inscription — "Dig at the foot and 
thou wilt find a writing." After many hardships, finally on the 24th 
January, 1770, they arrived at San Diego, half dead with hunger, after 
an absence of six months, to find the soldiery there also short of pro- 
visions. 

Relief was sent to them soon, and a few months after Monterey 
was visited and recognized and visited by land and water ; so that on 
the third of June, 1770, they took possession of the land in the name of 
the King of Spain — hoisting the Spanish flag, pulling out some of the 
grass and throwing stones here and there, and making formal entry of 
all their proceedings. 

On the same day Father Juuipero began his mission by erecting a 
cross, hanging the bells from a tree and saying mass under the same 
venerable oak where the Carmehte Friars celebrated in 1602, accompa- 
nying Vizcaino. 

And here it is time to conclude, not for want of material, but 
Uiroagh fear of having already trespassed on yonr forbearaace. 



i 




BY PROP, IRA MORE. 

The leaves of the Earth's history as they are turned one by one 
and brought uuder the inquiring eye of the Scientist, present in their 
sign language many questions to which a full answer is impossible at 
the present time, and of which a partial auswer must be given with 
many doubts and misgivings — theory blindly striving to piece together 
a truth out of the disjointed fragments of our knowledge, and produc- 
ing, in many instances, a distorted image which may be food for mirth 
to the more fortunate ages which shall succeed us. 

Of these problems the lee Age, out of which we are just emerging, 
is the most enigmatical. The first life found the earth's surface of even 
temperature. The Eozoon of the Arehtean, the mollusk of the Silurian, 
and the flsh of the Devonian, lived in quiet, even tempered waters; the 
first great land vegetation of the Carboniferous made coal-beds, presum- 
ably at the poles thoniselves. In the next great age, when huge sauri- 
ans led their three-fold life of walking, swimming, and flying, neither 
tropics nor polar circles formed a boundary to their migrations. The 
I Tertiary shows an increasing difference between poles and equator, and 
this eulmiaates, not suddenly, but by slow degrees, in a frozen earth; 
the ice gathering about the poles thickening by slow accretions, and 
advancing by inches iu a century toward the equator, reaching in some 
places in the northern hemisphere to within 37 degrees of the equator, 
and approaching still nearer in the southern. But the advance is check- 
ed; the frozen edge remains stationary for untold ages, then slowly 
retreats half-way to its starting points, which position it has maintained, 
with slight variations of advance and retreat, to the present time. 

Faults so startling could hardly fail to set the busy brain of man to 
speculating upon causes for so astonishing an order of events, and to 
weaving fine spun theories. These theories may be roughly placed in 

I three classes : 
I 1. Change of currents by elevation or depression of connecting lands. 
I 2. Great simultaneons elevation of polar lands. 
I 3. Varyingeccentricityand position of theearth's orbit, by which the 
■oles alternately are subjected to enormous changes of temperature, 
I With regard to the first of these theories, various suppositions have 
been made; 8oTith America has been connected by uplifted lands with 
Africa; North America with Europe ; Behring's Strait has been narrow- 
ed or widened to produce the result ; and the Isthmus of Panama having 
[ormed the bed of the ocean until the close of the Drift period, was up- 
i just in time to pour the warm waters of the Qulf Stream into the 



24 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



1 



Polar Ocean, driving the ice limit back to its present position. The flrf 
tbree of these are mere assumptions without underlying: facts; for the 
ice- in cumbered lands of Behring's Striiit have not been examined with 
sufficient minuteness to determiue their age ; wliile, of course, the strata 
forming the Atlantic sea-bed are not likely to yield up their history to 
the present generation of seekers. With regard to the Gulf Stream, 
we may speak more definitely ; the coast survey sections commenced bv 
Bache in 1845, and continued from time to time to the present, havo 
given much practical knowledge of this celebrated current ; the more to 
be prized from the fact that no other ocean oarrent has ever been sur- 
veyed aud measured. From this we learn that its Summer velocity of 
four miles per hour, about double the Winter velocity, is regularly 
diminished along the coast northward, until opposite Nantucket it is 
scarcely one mile per hour; opposite Nova Scotia it can with difficulty 
be made out at all, aud off Newfoundland it is impossible to distin- 
gnish it from the surrounding Atlantic waters. A simple calculation 
based on its diminution so far as traced, brings it to a standstill in long. 
53 degrees, less than half way across the AUautJc. It helps in some 
small measure to moderate the temperature of the Northern Atlantic 
waters, but it is not a factor in the difiCerenoe of climate between west- 
em Europe and eastern America. 

Again, geologists tell us the Isthmus was raised during the Plioc«ne 
Tertiary, and not late in the Drift period, as would be needed to sustain 
the theory. And, as if this were not enough, you will notice that the 
powerful equatorial current entering the Carribbean Sea runs not to- 
ward, but parallel to, the Isthmus. If a chimney through which a strong 
current of warm air be passing have its wall pierced, the draft through 
the hole will be into the chimney and not out of it; so here, pierce the 
Isthmus by a canal, and the water will flow from the Pacific into the 
Atlantic. We shall keep our Gulf Stream spite of Dc Lesseps and all 
his shoveling crew. Even the Isthmus itself might be swallowed up in 
the waters, without involving the loss of our much prized ocean rivet, 

Anotlier consideration bears upon this point. The regular ocean 
current is a modem invention. It depends, of course, upon the differ- 
ence of heat between equatorial and polar waters. If the equatorial 
surface waters were 100° F. instead of 80" as at present, the currents 
would be greatly increased in volume and in velocity; on the other 
hand, reduce the equatorial heat to 50° F. and the currents would 
become feeble, mere ghosts or shadows of their present selves. When 
permanent ice rest«d at the ocean level at 40" N. latitude, the present 
Torrid was a cold temperate zone, whose ocean surfaces could hardly 
have been of higher tem[>erature than 50" Fahrenheit, and currents 
must have Im'pu feeble, hieitl, and uncertain — due mainly to the uncertain 
and ever varj-ing winds. 



J 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 25 

Prom these considerations wo shall, I think, be inelined to agree 
pitfa Dana, that moat conservative of geologists, when he says : " The 
brersioQ of the Gulf Stream over the submerged Isthmus of Pauama 
■to the Pacific, is an hypothesis without facts or probabilities in its 
Jhvor." 

The theory of the simultaneous elevation of polar lauds, is some- 
■rliat Diore hopeful than that of eurreuts, as it might, could it have 
iken plaue, account for nearly or quit* all the phenomcDa of the Ice 
*Age. It has the great names of Lyell and Dana, as well as a host of 
lesser note, in it* favor. It supposes a great elevation of 1,000 feet or 
more, of the vast circle of land bordering the Arctic Ocean ; and at the 
or nearly the same time, the upheaval of lands toward the South 
Certain evidences are adduced as partial proof — the great lakes 
nptied their waters sonthward; and the ice grooved the rocks and 
Bicavated deep and nan-ow valleys at the sea-shore, now beneath the 
"naters, and known in northern Europe and elsewhere as fiords. These 
ihings are quite trn^, but are capable of a muuh simpler explanation : 
^e ice and drift blocked the northeastern outlet of the lakes, raised 
leir waters and sent them southward. Eveu now a rise of fifteen feet 
brould open an outlet for Lake Michigan through the Des Plaines river 
into the Mississippi, One may walk over the ground from the lake to 
the river and his eye can scarcely detect a change of level in the eight 
miles intervening. The fiord sculpturing is easily acconnted (or with 
the land at its present level, when we remember that the ice in those 
tatitudes wa» more than a mile in thickness, and that where the glacier 
nehed the sea, the press^ire on the sea bottom would scarcely diminish 
jerceptibly until a depth of several hundred feet had been reached. 
Kane and others have described the great Humboldt-Glacier as travel- 
ing down a valley of western Greeulaud, bearing its enormous weight 
of ice to the sea and far into the waters, until the lifting power of the 
■«ater and the force of the storm waves break off great icebergs, Should 
^^uIe valley become cleared of ice, a fine fiord, making probably one of 
^■he best harbors of western Greenland, will be found at its foot. 
^Bt Elevation or depression of such vast areas of the earth's crust at 
^Bbfi same time, is contrary both to reason and experience. An elevataoa 
Hh one portion, means a depression near at band. If the coast of Nor- 
way be rising, that of Sweden is sinking: the bulging out of such vast 
areas is a well-nigh unthinkable proposition, as nearly impossible as 
any physical phenomenon can be; the needs of science are not of ana- 
^Mnre to justify such desperate hypotheses, and we may regard this the- 
^hty as only true by a very remote possibility. 

^P The third or eccentric theory known as Croll's was very attractive 
^^fhen it made its appearance some twenty years since. It swept men oflf 
their feet as if by one of its own moving floods, and carried them hither 
4 



the I 
■btiti 
^■oael 
Bperct 



26 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 






and thither at will. The eccentric form of the earth's orbit and 
ohaiigiug direction of its axis, would give to one hemisphere a longM 
Summer than Winter for many thousand of years. Its ice cap would 
diminish while that of the opposite hemisphere would tliiekeu and ap> 
proach the equator. Then the hemispheres would change conditions ; 
the large ice cap would retreat, while the former favored hemisphere 
would become frigid. An increase of eccentricity, which reaches its 
tnaximum at very loug intervals, would greatly increase these diSerenoaa 
and account for the glacial phenomena whose history is written on th9> 
rocks of so large a portion of the globe. But sober second thought will, 
follow any period of excitement, and men soou saw there would on thi4 
hypothesis, be not one Ice Age, but many; successive layers of unstrab- 
ified drift material would be sandwiched in between the stratified roetaj 
from the commencement of the Cretaceous to the present time. Bat 
no such formations have been found though eagerly looked for. CroU 
and Geikie eont«>nd tor two ice ages in the northern hemisphere, separ* 
ated by a milder interval, but it seems not to be well made out. 

Another and very valid objeetiou to Croll's theory is, that the short* 
er Summer and longer Winter does not neeossarily imply a less average 
of heat received for the year. The sun is now three million miles nearof 
the earth during the southern Summer than during the northern. ThA' 
southern hemisphere receives during its longest Summer day about oq»^ 
fifteenth more heat than the northern hemisphere receives on the 21st 
of June; and the average amount received for the entire year is slightly 
greater south of the equator than north of it. True, the southern hem- 
isphere is colder than the northern, owing, no doubt, to the fact of a 
great Antarctic continent extending for many degrees in all directionSi 
from the pole, while the northern polar area is oceanic. The differeuoa. 
is thus probably a constant one ; its rocks certainly show the same diC-. 
ference to have existed iu the glacial age, and there is no shadow <rf; 
proof, other tlian a purely theoretical one, tliat it was ever otherwise. 

There isstill a theory to be cousidered which accounts for the knowR 
phenomena and conditions so exactly, that it may become the belief of 
the future time, as it would probably have been that of the past, had U 
not been baiTcd by the authority of one illustrious name. It is basod 
upon the instability of the solar system and the gradual approach toi 
the sun. Nearly a century ago the genius of La Place showed by a long- 
and delicate calculation that the solar system is essentially stable ; the 
planets through mutual attractions are over changing the forms of their 
orbits, but in periods of longer or shorter duration, return again to the 
exact orbital form of the earlier time — and so through endless cyclical 
changes to the infinite of time. The law of endless change, of birth, 
growth and decay, which we see impressed upon every thing aboat ne^j 
does not reach to the relation of planets to each other and to the siuiJ 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 27 

i this been a mere theory it would have shared the fate of endless 
rthers long before this. But it was the result of the Bublimest calcula- 
mon of the world's best mathematicitin, and the average man stands 
BQch in awe of figures. Bat the centnrj- since La Place's time is show- 
ing the weakness of this part of his work. There is no flaw in his cal- 
ctilatJODS; still the result is wrong. The instrument which he used 
probably misled him. The Calculus is a wonderful machine, and has 
done magnificent work since Newton and Leibnitz; but its results have 
I not the absolute exactness of arithmetic. It neglects infinitesimals, and 
tliough in ordinary work no appreciable error can be found in its 
ssnits, still it is true that in delicate calcalations, embracing immense 
jeriods of time, tlie very minute error of the shorter proce.'is multiplies 
intil it assumes definite proportions; and when man thinks he has 
LSped an eternal truth, he ha.s but closed his hand upon a very trou- 
blesome error. GroU's calculations showing the form of the earth's 
^rbit two or three millions of years forward or backward from the 
resent time, may not be worth the paper they are written on. 

Had La Place known what has since been demonstrated, that the 

Sun's mass has been constantly increasing through the addition of 

[meteoric and cometio matter, thus continually augmentiug the force 

MZerted upon the planets and compelling their approach, he might have 

jen led to doubt the correctness of his own condnsions. 

The earth, when the first life appeared upon its surface, was much 
Knrther out in space than now, perhaps nearly to the present positioh 
»f Jupiter. Its heat came from within, not from the sun. With slowly 
thickening crust, and diminishiug heat, it passed the earlier geological 
tsges. The Tertiary fonud it nearly in the position of Mars, with a cool 
temperate climate, somewhat warmer at the equator than at the polos, 
owing to the increased heat from the sun. But the heat from within 
is diminishing faster than the sun's heat is increasing ; and now comes 
the froaen age, the icy fingers holding in their grasp both hemispheres; 
the feeble rays of the Sun having just power enough to keep clew the 
equatorial lands. A nearer approach and the ice slowly retreats until 
the present position is reached, and more than half the earth has been 
cleared of its cold iucumbrauee : and we may confidently look forward 
to the time when Wrangell Land and the newly discovered -Teannette 
Islands shall be fashionable summer watering places for the over-heated, 
enervated people of Alaska and Labrador. And every planet shall 
have its day ; Mars shall be redeemed from its present icy thraMom, and 
Jupiter, now in his earliest Archieau age, shall, with his immense bulk, 
go through all the changes which have marked the stages of progress 
and decay of the planets within the sweep of his magnificent but ever 
[■Harrowing orbit. 



TRAP-DOOR SPIDERS. 

BY MISS MONKS. 

The nndergroQud life of Southern (Jalifornia is more remarkable 
than that of the East. The treeless and stonele&B character of much of 
the couutry, drives maay sraall animals to ingeuioua expedients to 
escape from enemies, and reduces them to make-shifts unknown to their ■ 
more fortunate kindred. 

Winged creatures are scarce. One looks in vain for the great vai'i- 
ety of bees, butterflies, and birds that euliven the Eastern summer and 
make every wayside patch of flowers aTid thistle thicket a living pano- 
rama of color, motion and song. Here there are few homes and biding 
places. Strong- pinioned hawks and buzzards can wing their way to 
distant forests ; man-loving linnets are secure and happy in orchard and 
garden, but timid folk must seek homes on, or under the turf, or hide 
in far off cafions. 

To a person used to the oonimon fact that "foxes have holes, and 
the birds of the air have nests," there is a never-ending interest in squir- 
rel burrows where gopher-snake and rattlesnake and owl and squirrel 
families blend together promiscuously. 

Imagine the loneliness and homesickness and disgust of the flrst 
emigrant owl and his family, on these smooth foothills with no hollow 
tree or fiiendly stone wall near, when they found they must go down to 
the dark abode of the squirrel and be a companion of the snakes I Peace 
and concord and the sweet amenities of polite society may reign over 
these incongruous troglodytes, but no man knoweth, and the iuterested 
parties are becomingly reticent. Imagination alone can furnish another 
solution of the problem. 

Other unfailing curiosities are the two large spiders, the Trap-door 
and the " Tarantula", and the peculiar nests of the Trap-door spider. 

So much confusion prevails about the two species and there are so 
many wonderful stories told about their instincts and ferocity, that it ia 
perhaps worth while l.u collect all the authentic information possible oq 
the subject. It is necessary to understand a little about the general 
structure of spiders to know how these differ from their relatives. 

Spiders differ from insects, sueh as flies, beetles and butterflies, in 
having four insttiad of three pairs uf legs, the head and chest blended 
together in one piece called cephalo-thorax ; the large rounded abdomea 
without joints; the breathiug organs as pouches and also air tube^ 
and the end of the body furnished with organs for spinning silk. The 
air pouches, called pulmonary sacs, are little cavities containing leaf -like 
plates over which the blood flowe aud ia oxygenized by air that enters 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 29 

'ongli small opeDings on the outside, caJled stigmata. These sacs are 
a the underside of the abdomen. Not far from them are two tubes 
ftlled trachea, which resemble the only breathing organs of iusectB, 
Ijoept that they are much shorter. 

The principal nerve mass is in ihe lower part of the cephalo-thorax 
and has the stomach and heart above it. The six or eight eyes are on 
the top and front of the cephalo-thorax and are very good for setsiug 
objects abovi! the animal, but of no use for tritles under foot or at the 
side. 

Spiders are armed with two strong, sliarp, curved and perforated 
fangs, connected with poison glands, and these fangs generally have a 
lateral motion. The mouth is eminently a sucking organ, provided with 
powerfid muscles, and one use of the fangs is for holding the prey while 
the spider absorbs its life blood. They also have a short jointed append- 
age, like a leg, on each side the mouth, called maxillary palpus. The 
basal joints of these organs are modified into hard jaws which serve for 
crashing food, while the terminal' joint has tactile function. 

The Trap-door spider and tha Tarantula belong to the same family 
— Mygalidfe — and differ from other spiders in three important particu- 
lars. Their maxillary palpi are very long, so long that they look like a 
fifth pair of legs ; their fangs move up and down, instead of having a 
' side motion, and they have four instead of two pulmonary sacs. The 
sacs are the yellowish spots seen on the under side of the abdomen. The 
^Slygalidfe embraces the largest spiders. 

^k The large bird-catching spider of South America is fii'st cousin to 
^■rliat is called "Tarantula" in California. Our species is not a tarantula 
^Kt all, and does not even belong to the same family as the tarantula of 
^Kcmth Europe. 

^H Both our species are called tarantulas, and there is considerable 
Unpopular confusion about the animals and their habits. They are easily 
told apart. The "Tarantula" (Mygale Hentzii) is large —when extended 
it often covers the space of four or more inches; it is very hairy; black 
or dark brown in color, with sometimes an ashy tinge; and has long 
legs, which indicate a wanderer. 

The Trap-door spider (Cteniza California) is only half as large, is 

downy, pale brown, and has short legs. There is the greatest possible 

^^^ifferonco of opinion in regard to the tube-building habit of the two 

^Hpecies. I have never found a " Tarantula" in a nest with a trap-door 

^^r a Trap-door spider in one with an open mouth. I have put Mygoles 

of both sexes in jars of earth, and they never would attempt to build 

tubes. They pull bits of earth together and spin a little silk, then stop 

— seemingly satisfied with the result of their labor. On the other hand, 

BCtenizas invariable go to work the first uight and dig a tube and gener- 

ttly add the door the second night. 



30 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



y 



It is not uncommou to find a MygaJe in a doorless tube, with the 
remains of a Cteaiza scattered outside, which looks suspicioualy as 
though the "Tarantula" had diued off the mistress and takeQ possession 
of the house. Still the children here declare that "Tarantulas" live in 
doored tubes. The children ought to know, for they are in the habit 
of subjecting the spiders to a species of water cure treatment, They 
pour water into the holes to drive them out, and then, taking advantage 
of the spiders' natural ferocity, set them to fighting. 

The vertical action of the fnugs helps to make a California spider's 
life worth living, for it gives a wide range of uses to these organs. In 
their sapper and miner operations the fangs are used as picks to loosen 
the bits of earth, then tlie bits of soil are foldiid ap^ainst the chest by 
the fangs, and thus carried out to the mouth of the shaft. In making 
doors they are used to press the moist earth in position. When the 
Bpider comes home late at light, the fangs are used as a jimmy or night 
key to coax a door that is a little obstinate on its hinges. Like other 
spiders they use them for defending thoTnselves, and for catching and 
killing their prey, and holding it while they dine ; so that the formida- 
ble books that fold so neatly under the chest when not in use, serve as 
pickase, hod, trowel, jimmy, ciraetar and fork in turn, at the pleasure 
of the owner. 

Gteniza uses her fangs freely when disturbed. Upon slightest prov- 
ocation she puts herself in fighting attitude, and quietly waits her 
opponent. In this position she throws back the cephalo-thorax, and 
supporting herself on three pairs of legs, lifts the other legs and the 
maxillary palpi high in air in a very threatening manner. As the enemy 
approaches the fangs are snddenly raised and sho throws herself for- 
ward and plunges the sharp hooks deeply into its body. I have seen 
drops of clear liquid poison banging on the fangs of angry spiders, but 
from the record of others and my own observation, it would seem that 
it is far less deadly than is popularly supposed. There are many 
instances where people and lower animals have been bitten by Trap- 
door ifpiders, and have suffered no great inconvenience. I only know 
of one serious sickness resulting from a spider's bite, and that was in 
the Elost; and the spider, like most criminals, escaped without identifi- 
cation. 

The Ctenizas will attack and bury their fangs in each other with a 
strength and ferocity painful to witness; but when separated they seem 
to have sustained no injury, and go about their several callings as 
though such encounter.s were of ordinary occurrence. TImt it is not 
suddenly fatal is shown by the fact that crickets and other prey often 
move and ki<:k even when partially devoured by spiders. Probably 
when a spider dies very soon after being bitten by another, the death is 
not caused by poison, but because the fang has pierced the central nerve 



r 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 31 

mass. I long ago learned that the quickest and easiest way to kill cer- 
tain small spiders of i\m East, was to thrust a needle into the middle of 
the cephalo- thorax. They would be paralyzed immediately and die very 
soon. It affects Trap-dooi- spiders the same way but not so suddenly. 

The testimony of many writers shows that spider bites are not gen- 
erally more dangerous than mosquito bites, and sometimes occasion no 
more iuconveniunce than the wounds of a needle; and that most insects 
if they could escape the grasp and sucking jaws of the spider after 
being struck, would stand a fair chance of recovery. 

Enthusiastic naturalists have allowed spiders to bite them repeat- 
edly without serious results ; but as far as personal appUcatiou is con- 
cerned I am perfectly willing to depart from scieutifle methods and 
take on faith the statement that the poison of a spider is not poisouous. 
There are noticeable differences between male and female spiders. The 
male Cteniza is smaller, darker colored, has much smaller abdomen, 
longer legs and his maxillary palpi have one crooked joint, and are armed 
with spurs or hooks. He is also very much more active. 

I have never been able to find the hiding places of males, and in 
two years have only obtained two specimens. These were caught by 
some b<}ys soon after a severe rain storm. They probably hide away 
among mustard stalks and under leaves and have no settled homes. As 
there ai-e few stones and no beds of matted leaves, the male Trap-door 
spider must be an adept at hiding, especially in the day season. It is 
said his shyness is due to the cannibal tendencies of the female, who 
shows hep conjugal thrift by eating a husband whenever the larder ia 
empty, or she happens to be in an ill humor. The females are tJie soli- 
tary dwellers in the tube houses. These holes are dug all over the foot- 
hills and often on level ground. It is often said that they prefer a 
certain exposure, I think northerly, but I have found the nests at all 
heights and ail slopes of the hills, and believe they have no preference. 
All they need is seclusion. They are found by the dozens on many hills, 
and freiiuently there are four or five within a few feet of each other. It 
looks as though the young of one family located as one colony after 
leaving the parental cellar, and lived peaceably. This proximity sug- 
gests that unconfined they are not such ferocious cannibals as paintc-d, 
or that food is abundant. I do not know what the food is. Probably 
the staple articles are crickets and sow bugs. That it is plentiful is 
shown by the plump condition of the spiders when they are dug from 
the ground, I never found any remains of food in or around the nests. 
Iq eonfincmeut they eat flies and crickets and devour each other with 
great relish, or they will live months without food. It is next to impos- 
sible to starve them out of their nests. I have known specimens to 
^Blnit themselves up by webs and stoically starve to death in nests left 
Wb^ window sills in rooms where they were alone most of the time, and 



32 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTNFk'A' CALIFORNIA. 

where tliey could have canght flies by leaving the tube. There is somo^ 
thing almost pathetic about this femiDine domesticity were it uot 
extremely stupid. Possibly, even with this adjunct, it appears to som^ 
minds as an eminently suitable and proper way of dying. 

On the hills they make the nests from eight to ten inches lonff. 
They are rarely straight. For a few inches th<?y are vertical, then they 
gradually curve, generally up hill, and sometimes there is a doubW 
curve. I have one that has a sharp turn near the bottom, almost at 
right angles to the general direction. On account of these curves no 
caller is able to tell whetlier the lady of the house is at home by lookinj 
down the hallway. Generally the walls are silken-lined throughonb 
bat some individuals are uot particular and leave the lower end bare; 
Then these mud walls are all scarred and marked with ijnpressions 
the spider's claws. 

The door is the most curious part of the nest. It is sometimes 
well fitted that it is impossible to open it without the aid of pin or bladft 
of penknife, but it can always be opened without injury to hinge. Th&' 
silk on the hinge part is thick and strong. The hinge line is generaily 
toward the top of the hill, but not always, for I have found nests that 
open np hill and side wise. Considering the rush with which rain comes 
here it would be provident always to have the doors open downward, 
so as not to be swept open by the floods. The hinges are always made 
80 strong that they spring the door to, regardless of inclination of poai- 
tioo. The door stands at about an angle of 45 degrees and shuts as 
soon as the spider has crawled out. The worn hinges of specimens th*t' 
have been handled do not give a correct idea of the tension of web ilt 
inhabited nests. 

The spiders are nocturnal or crepuscular. After four o'clock in thft 
afternoon it is not uncommon to see a door gently fall to on the a^ 
proach of footsteps. Spiders often betray their nests in Ihis way. If 
an attempt is made to open the door, one finds that the spider is holdiag^ 
it down on the other side with considerable strength. She catches her 
claws in the silk and braces herself against the walls by means of \ttir 
many legs, and pulls for dear life. 

In every door there are four or five little holes in the silk opposite 
the middle of the hinge, which might be called inverted door knobs, and 
in these she inserts her clawi< to open or shut the door. When she finds 
her efforts are of no avail and the door slips from her grasp, she hastens 
to her reception room at the bottom of the tube, and, throwing herself 
backward with all feet and her cruel fangs upturned to receive anything 
that descends, she waits patiently for future developments. The spider 
will move quite large stones that fasten the door open, but if it is pin- 
ned back so sho can not lift it, she will build a new door, I have tested 
them many times in this way in the spider towns of the foothills. Not 



U 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 33 

long after one successful experiment of the kind, I heard of a very rare 
. specimen of a "Tarantula's" nest iu one of the stores, for which the 
Kttoaler would not take any price, because it was such an uncommon 
ing for spiders to have double doors to their homes! 
I removed the door from one of my spider's houses and she huilt 
D doors iu suoeession in a short time j but some are content when the 
►or is torn off to spin a web over the opening. Sometimes the screw 
i-vessei of Alfilaria worms its way into the top of the door and makes 
"a convenient handle for us to open the portal, or a bit of grass roots 
there and hides the dwelling; but 1 have never noticed any attempt on 
the part of the spider to cover the trap with vegetation as a protection. 
The nests are well hidden by buiT clover and crane's-bill in the 
jeu season, and in the dry season, when most they need concealment, 
Sbe earth ie so baked and cracked that it t-akes a keen and experienced 
je to pick out the trapdoors from the multitudinous mud eraeka which 
iDiTound them. 

After the youngleave the mother they can easily conceal themselves 
''in the cracks and fissures of the dry soil, aud their first tiny nests are 
fio small as to escape detection. The sraalleat I have seen have been iu 
diameter about the width of a pea. They are said to enlarge their tubes 
_2rom time to time, as they increase in size. The young must leave the 
^biest very early, for I have never found any with the mother except the 
^Bfrarois that are there in April and Maj', and the little ones then are 
"«bout the size of a medium pin head. They probably make their tubes 
in summer, for the floods of the rainy season would sweep them out of 
temporary resting places and ont of existence. It is reported that the 
mother shuts herself up in the nest and offers herself an unresisting 
victim to the insatiable appetites of her swarming offspring, and that 
after the repast they go forth in the world refreshed and ready for the 
duties of life. I trusted to this cannibalism iu an attempt to raise some 
^boung. There were hundreds of tliem — little reddish mites creeping 
Hpver the mother — and, belteviug in the survival of the fittest, I left 
Vthem to devour her and each other, aud thus help along my studies. 
"When I examined the neat months afterwards, the mother was alive and 
had spun a loose web over the mouth of the broken tube and the young 
had all crept out and died in the crevices of the earth. They hsMl not 
^ynten each other to any appreciable extent, and certainly had not filled 
^Hie traditional contract to devour their devoted mother. 
^B There is a fact that gives a faint color of truth to this belief. Some- 
times the door of a neat is sealed down. A ring of silk, almost a quarter 
of an inch wide is woven inside, holding (he door fast to the tube. This 
thick white band can be separated from the neat, showing that it was 
~ jdded after the house was completed. At the bottom of the tube is 
innd the shell of a spider, not the shriveled up body. If the young 
5 



34 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



1 



ate her, how did thoy got out afterwanlsT If she found herself wound- 
ed uuto deuth, and sealing her door she hid away in the silence Eud 
darkness to make her home her tomb — Who ate hert The sides of the 
tube are smooth and solid, the woven silk is close and compact, the 
remains are of a victim or eatou subject, not of a mummy, and it is not 
easy to ex[ilain the pheuomeua. 

Nottiing is more interesting about these interesting people ttian tiie 
existence of sncJi catacombs. As the door closes, like doors in a gboi«t 
story, of its own accord after the spider has left the house, she shows 
DO little ingenuity in getting in when she comes home again. She feels 
around and gives a pnll, and if the door sticks she removes debris that 
an unkind hand may have placed on the trap. Then, as she cannot see 
downward, she continues to feel around with her feet tor familiar places. 
She inserts her claws in the roughnesses of the earth and pulls till sht 
finds the hinge side, then bracing her feet outside the tube to use aa 
levers, she catches her fanges in the top opposite the hinge, and pnlla 
upward by lifting her whole body. As soon as the door yields and 
opens a little she inserts her front feet and pulls it wider, and then 
sliding over the top when it is half open, disappears — pulling the dooi 
to after her. 

The Ctenizas work readily in confinement. Sometimes they finish 
the tube before adding the door, and other times soon build the doot 
and thus protected carry on improvements at their leisure. They gen- 
erally work at night, but will pull down the door and remove obstruc- 
tions from it in the day. They are so shy that it is difficult to catch 
them working. They will work in a lighted room if it is quiet, and in 
this way I have watched them build nests and make doors. They have 
an interesting way of getting rid of the earth when they are digging. 
They carry particles of earth by means of ihe fangs pressed against the 
body, and when they reach the upper part of the tube by a quick jerk 
of a leg, they fillip them far from the nest. Thus the bits of soil are 
scattered far and wide and a heap is never seen at the mnuth of a nt*t. 
I have seen them repeatedly throw earth in this \Tay, and often heard it 
at night strike against the top of jars where they were working. 

In digging holes they use the fangs, and can burrow in very hard 
soil. As a test, I put one in a cup of clay, tenacious as brick clay, aud 
in a few nights she had dug a hole larger than a walnut, and she still 
seems disposed to go farther, although her fangs are coated a third ol 
the length with the yellow clay. Il is interesting to watch the building 
of a door. The spider weaves a good quantity of silk around the uppei 
margin of her door, and often runs fibres far outside to keep the eiirtl) 
from falling in. Then she brings up bits of earth fmm the inside, moist- 
ened in some way, and presses them against the side of the tube. Tben 
tnm in g around with her long spinnerets she spreads silk over the under 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 35 



I side of thp pat't that she has just stuck on. The spianerets act like fin- 
gers and plaster the silk oq carefully aud dexterously. It seems all to be 
done by touch, rather than sight. This she repeats slowly and with great 
pains, adding bit by bit and smouthiug the silk on the underside, and 
testing her work with her many hands, till the door is completed. Some- 
times dawn comes before the labor is done, and then a little half door 
liftiigs on its hinges all day over- the opening. 
The strength of the door, the holes for holding it down, the tenacity 
with which the spider piilla on the iuaide, and the attitude she takes 
when she hasteus down the tube — all show that she has to cuuteud with 
shrewd enemies, Probably her most tireless foe is the Tarantula hawk. 
This is a wasp and there are several species that hunt spiders. The 
largest one is a gorgeous creature with red wings and bluish or green- 
ish metallic colored body. 

I Late in the afternoon when the spiders begin cautiously to open 
their doors these wasps are seen flying low and intently examining 
every hole and crevice in the ground. They fly into the siiuirrel bur- 
rows aud walk all over them, with their bodies jerking in an imper- 
tinent and irritating manner, as they peer into the upper stories of these 
tenement houses. From this it seems that spiders must be added as 
attic lodgers in these communal dwellings; and surely with this addi- 
tion, and the wasps as callers, there must be a Box and Cox arrangement 
flfi to hours, to prevent unpleasant encounters in the halt ways. 
The secret of the wasp's search is not food, but to lay up an inher- 
itance for her young. When she encounters a spider a fight ensues, 
and, i£ she is victorious, she paralyzes but does not kill it, and then 

I deposits an egg on or near the spider, and goes her way rejoicing. The 
spider is limp and helpless, but keeps alive till the wasp is hatched as a 
soft white grub. Then the baby wasp begins to eat the meat its mother 
has supplied in abundance to last through its babyhood. This admir 
able provision of the wasp — not quite so happy for the spider — is 
excellent in a dry climate where a dead spider would dry np in a short 
time and become very tongh or dusty eating; but where a paralyzed 
Bpider keeps fresh aud in good condition till needed. Mud wasps have 
^e same way of storing up smaller spiders for their young. 
The Cteniza resents familiarity and shows her displeasui-e by a 
sharp snap of the fangs or by moving off as fast as possible. This makes 
it difficult to examine live ones, They do not like to be touched. I have 
found a way, however, of keeping them quiet as long as I please. It is 
by pressing gently on the cephalo- thorax over the chief nerve mass. 
The spider stops crawling, ceases struggling and remains perfectly still. 
This is e-specially noticeable when they are turned on their backs. At 
' first they fight to get back to their normal position, but a slight pres- 
I sure stills them, their muscles relax aud they can be examined at leisure. 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



\ 



Even so slight a weight as a bit of writing paper will keep them immov- 
able for a long time. These mesmerized spiders are rather ridiculous 
in this undignified position, lying flat on tieir backs, with their many 
heels all up iu the air, and a piaster of white paper across the pit at 
their stomachs; aud it cannot be very comfortable either, but they 
remain motionless for a quarter or half hour at a time, and may be kept 
from scrambling back on their feet as long as you will by a touch at 
the first sign of resticsness. 

Aside from the curious homes I have not noticed any sign of su- 
perior shrewdness or intelligence in these spiders. They seem shy and 
and alow and rather stupid. Their nooturual habit keeps them from 
showing off well in the day time, but even at night they are nut alert. 

I tried the effect of certain color and odor by putting rose petals 
in their nests, but they merely carried them out as they would sticks 
and mud. 

I tested their musical ear, as spiders are said to be musically in- 
clined, by singing and whistling my sweetest, but they seemed very 
phlegmatic about it and the sound produced no impression, not even 
uneasiness. Perhaps, though, they discriminate. 

They are so slow that it requires much time and patience to study 
their habits, and tben, iu confinement, the conditions are not naturaL 

People are ready to believe anything phenomenal about a snake or 
a spider. Many of the stories of mai'velous instinct and characteristics 
of spiders are woven from the golden tissue of romance and are too 
cobwebby to be toached without desttaoWou, but it is a sorry wight, 
human or arachnid, to whom no romance can cling, and it is not 
strange that the little brown anchoret in her silken cell in the foothills 
should be credited with more than ordinary intelligence when she shuts 
her door in the face of the world and retires to solitary meditation. 



NORTH AMERICAN LAKES. 

BY ISAAC KINLEY. 

In Ameriea, as in the Eastern Coutineut, the north is the land of 
lakes. A Hue from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to thd western end 
of Lake Erie, and thence to the mouth of the Mackenzie, lies through 
and near a succession of lakes uneiiualed in number and magnitude by 
any other like extent on the earth. The great Ntirth American depres- 
sion extends northwestwardly from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic 
Ocean, with a braueh at about the fortieth parallel northeastwardly to 
the Gulf of St. Lawrence. These two lines nearly at right angles to 
each other, lie in approximate parallelism with the mountain ranges 
_ and the shore lines of the Continent. 

The forty-second parallel holds to the north of it nearly all the 
porth American lakes, while to the south are numerous lake basins, 
(pme of them rivaling even Superior in extent. These have been de- 
nived of their waters by their outflowing rivers, or, as in the arid 
* of the Southwest, by evaporation. If we define a lake to be 
jlrbat geologically it is, a local depression of the surface, and treat the 
3senc6 or absence of water as only one of its incidents, we shall find 
B South, no less than the North, a land of lakes. 
Lake basins may be due — 

To local sinkings of the surface. 

To excavations, notably by glaciers. 

To the extinction of volcanoes, their craters filling with water. 

To the breaking down of the roofs of caves by earthquakes or 

To the first and second of these agents are probably due nearly all 
' £he existing North American lakes, in some the one and in some the 
other acting as principal. In all the large lakes there has been a local 
sinking of the surface, the glacier being only auxiliary. The numerous 
small lakes in middle and western New York, lying in the direction of 
the glacial How, having frequent groovings on their adjacent walls, 
have been credited wholly to the glacier. But as nearly the whole of 
this lake region lies within the Niagara limestone formatiou, it is not 
improbable that caves, having their roofs broken down by the overlying 
ice, may also have acted as important auxiliaries! Many small lakes 
and ponds, as in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Southern ludiaua, are due 
wholly to the breaking down of the roofs of eaves. In Southwestern 
Missouri and Eastern Arkansas are several lakes and lakelets due to the 
Idng down of the overlying cave roofs by the earthquake of 1811. 
I Borgne &nd Pontchartrain have been captured from the 



38 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



Gulf by the delta of the Missig&ippi ; while Diimerous small lakes, 
bayous, are due to changes of the river bed, the deposit of sediment 
both their inlets aud outlets haviug left them filled with water. 

Crater lakes are not unfrequeut. These basins, but iroutaiuiug 
water, abound in New Mexieo, Arizona, and Southern California; whil 
tuaiiy of the beautiful lakes of th« Italian peninsula are but the flilt 
craters of extinct volcanoeB, 

Why is the North the land of lakes t In order to answer this qm 
tiou, let lis firiit see what has been goiug on at the South. Bet' 
Alleghaoiea and the Blue Ridge is a long narrow valley, extending tl 
whole length of these pftvallel ranges, and but for the breaks ii 
nearly the whole extent must have been a basin of water. At Hi 
pec's Ferry, the Potoniae, and near the Natural Bridge, the James rivor 
have broken through the Bine Kidge, carrying the waters of the upper 
half to the Atlantic; farther to tlie southwest the Eauawha and ' 
Tennessee carry the drainage of the lower half to the tributaries 
the Gulf of Mexico. 

These last named rivers have also made their way through the Cui 
berland mountains, draining another considerable valley between these 
and the Alleghaniee. Could these several outlets be closed, as they prob- 
ably once were, large lakes would again rapidly form. Could the Knobs 
mid the Miildro Hills uuite again at the Falls of the Ohio, a large shallow 
lake would form, covering parts of the States of Indiana, Ohio, and 
much of the fairest portions of Kentueky. Should the opposite bluffs 
of the Wabash be united at the mouth of the Salomonia, another large 
shallow lake would result, whose outlet would probably be the Maumee. 
Commencing at Bichmond, Indiana, itself situated in a small lake 
basin, and theuce northeastwardly half-way across the Stat« of Ohio, ia 
a succession of shallow depressions once filled with water, aud through' 
which still flow the streams whose unceasing work has cut thi-ou^ 
their margins and carried oflf their waters. In many of these 
lake beds the work of drainage is not yet completed, the lowest pai 
still being marshes or ponds of water. The Mohawk and Connectici 
flow each through a bead-roll of small lake basins, walled around by solid 
rock. Through their margins the rivers have for untold ages been 
deepening their channels, until the lake bottoms have become the homes 
of men. The great lakes themselves have been much reduced in their 
dimensions. The evidences are abundant that Erie, Michigan, and Ho-I 
ron are but the relies of what was once a large body of water, covering; 
all the intervening and much of the adjacent lauds, The work of deplo. 
tiou is still going on. Not only is Niagara still deepening itschanuel,' 
and sinking thereby the surface of Lake Erie, bat by a gradual recea-j 
sion of the falls a much greater work is prophesied. It is only a quea 
tion of time when Erie will be robbed of its waters, and the other greafl 



r 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



lakee be reduced to but insignificant parts nf their present dimensions. 
Lake Pepin, now but an expansion of the Mississippi, was once a much 
larger body; and Peoria, a similar expansion of the Illinois, formerly 
spread out over much of the level lands to the east, making a sheet of 
water equal in extent to that of Lake Champhiin. 

The evidence of the former greater extent of these lakes is abund- 
ant and apparent: The railroad from Lafayette, Indiana, northward, 
cuts through several low lake margins, marking the gradual renesaion 
of the waters, and within sight of frequent sand hills, similar to 
those now seen on the lake shore at Mii-higan City. There is evidence 
that the Illinois was once the outlet of Lake Michigan, and the Wabash 
that of Erie — carrying the waters of these liikes to the Gulf of Mexico, 

Donbtless, in many of these lake outlets, natural fractures and mar- 
ginal depressions have not only given direction to the effluent streams, 
but greatly aided in the work of abrasion. 

It is now generally conceded that the whole northern part of the con- 
tinent, reaching southward in some places to the twenty-ninth parallel, 
once wore an icecap of immense thickness, through which only the 
mountain peaks projected, I have already alluded to the work of the 
ice-plow in the excavation of lake basins. I am now about to give to 
the glacier the credit of the preservation of the lakes when formed. 

Allhough it has been found that the glacier flows like the water of 
a river, only more slowly, the ice, except wheu wedged in between two 
walls, as the Mer de Glace, could not have been confined to narrow 
channels, and cannot, therefore, have grooved out long, tortuous river 
beds. The abrasion and drainage were indeed going on, but by a slow 
process, as compared to the work of the released and actii^e waters. 

When the ice field began to disappear, it gradually receded north- 
ward, first uncovering that part of the drift region in which the lakes 
have been drained of their wat«rs. The southern half of the continent 
must have had even larger rivers than now, fed by the melting ice and 
snow of the retreating glacier. The length of time during which these 
rivers flowed while the north was still weariog its ice-crown, can only 
he approximately guessed. It was, however, a long time — a length of 
time compared with which the historic period dwindles into a few days- 
During this period the outlets of many of the southern lakes were being 
■ken by the slow abrasion of the flowing waters. And, dnahtless, 
lile the Ice-king still reigned at the north, these " sweet vales of Av- 
." had been drained into dry laud, and possibly become the homes of 
men. 

The physical geography of tha continent is a strong witness to the 
truth of this theory. To tie south of the drift region, where the rivers 
have been Sowing ever since the continent was above the sea, the lake 
bowls have been drained to the bottom ; in the northern part of it they 



Dur 

Ell 



40 



HISTORICAL .SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



have only been partially drained; while farther to the north they a 
still filled with water. This is exactly what the theory supposes. 

It has been argued that the southern half of the continent has l>e« 
longer from under the sea, and, therefore, the rivers have had greate 
time to deepen their channels. Exaetly the converse is the trath; 
the Lawrentiaii Hills are not only the oldest land on the continent, bu^ 
so far 08 now known, the oldest on the planet. 

It may be admitted without affeotiug this hypothesis, except it t 
toj'e-enforce it, that the ^reat weight of the aconmulat«d ice must haW 
sunk the more northern regions, some parts perhaps below the oceM 
level, and that in its gradual melting, these rose again, preserving thM 
equilibrium. 

The gradual recession of the ice northward, and, therefore, the fira 
uncovering of the southern half of the drift region must have taked 
place. That this recession was slow, and during a long period of yean 
must be true. That during these long ages, the rivers must have been 
deepening their channels >tnd emptying the lake basins, is a fact whicl 
needs only to be stated ; and heuce we have all the facts the hypotbesia* 
i-eqnires. If we should term that part of the drift region south of forty- 
one and a-half degrees, sub-glacial, we shall find the southern part en- 
tirely drained, the middle and northern part only partially, the lakes, 
and lakelets increasiugiD numbi^r and magnitude as we approach iti 
northern boundary. 

But the "dry lakes "of the Pacific slope— what of themt Thein 
margins are still intact. True ; but it is because they arr dry lakes, thid 
their margins have not been cut through and no new channels nonnoot J 
them with the sea. Another cause of the destrnction of lakes—loo im-J 
portaut to bo left out of the account— is the constant deposit of sedu 
ment. Wliile the effluents are continuously deepening their ohannal 
and sinking the lake surfaces, their affluents are no less industriou^JH 
raising up the lake bottoms by deposits from the land. The bottom c 
LakeSuperior, at its deepest part, is about 300 feet below the sea level. I 
cannot, therefore, be wholly drained by its outlet. The St. Louis river h 
a large delta, making access to Superior City so difficult as to requirall 
annual dredging. It has been estimated that the sediment carried yearly f 
to the Gulf by the Mississippi, is sufficient to raise a square mile two ' 
hundred and forty-one feet, or equaling a cubic mile, in a little less 
than twenty-two years. Where the Rhone enters Lake Geneva its 
waters are loaded to their capacity with sediment. Where it leaves the 
lake they are almost crystral clear. This solid matter bntught down 
from the Alps, is being continuously sifted upon the bottom, raising it 
upward, as the abrasion of the outlet is sinking the surface dowuward- 

In Indiana and Ohio are very numerous shallow lake basins, now J 
dry land, level as a floor, often with their several feet of rich alluvitua,! 



r 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALH-'ORNIA. 41 

still hearing evideuce tu the agency of these deposits in depriving them 
of their waters. The celebrated Walnut Level is but an ancient hike 
basin, and it is to thia deposit of aediinent that it owes its far-famed 
fertility. It is not improbable that by the time the Falls of Niagara 
shall have broken through the rim of Lake Superior, the eioking sur- 
face of the water may meet the rising bottom only a little above the 
present uueaa level. 

But why should the lakes begia to increase in size and frequency 
at about the forty-flrst parallel? The answer is to be found in the rela- 
tive amount of snow-fall. More snow falls at the south end of Iludsou's 
Bay than at Boothia Felix ; more at Cape Farewell than at Cape Hath- 
erton ; more at twenty degrees south of the Artie circle than at the same 
distance north of it. The line of greatest suow-fall, like the isothermal 
line, is irregularly extended, depending greatly on the wind currents. 
The water of the southern wiud currents coudenaes aud falls as they 
reach the colder latitudes. Allowing the line of greatest present snow- 
fall to pass through Hudson's Bay, it must have been far to the south 
of thia during the ice period. At or near the forty-seuond parallel, the 
glacier probably attained its greatest thickness. Here it ectrenched 
itself to stay ; and for a very hmg time the winter snows must have 
compensated for the summer thaws. While, therefore, that part of the 
drift region lying further south was uncovered, and the water courses 
actively at work digging their beds and draining the lands, the whole 
country to the north was a field of ice. 

Simultaneously, the ice and the line of greatest snow-fall reeede 
northward. As the day's greatest heat is not when the sun is on the 
meridian, but an hour or two later ; as the suramei-'s highest tempera- 
ture is not when the sun is at its greatest altitude, but a mouth or two 
lat«r; so it is probable that the greatest average heat has not yet been 
reached, and that the line of the greatest snow-fall is yet Breeding to- 
wards the poles. This fact, if it be one, must presage for Arctic explo- 
rers wider and more open fields a thousand years hence than to-day. 

The cause of the saltness of some American lakes, is too patent to 
require many words of explanation. Chloride of sodium is a component 
of sea watei, as well as an ingredient of the soils and the rocks. It is 
probable that when the continents were being slowly raised from the 
deep, most of its great lake basins had been already formed. They came 
up, therefore, filled to the brim with sea water. In localities, as in the 
northern and eastern part of the continent, where the supply from rain 
and snow exceeds the evaporation, the salt, being continuously carried 
away, has become so diluted as to be an imperceptible quantity. lu 
arid regions — as the Pacific slope and the country about the Caspian — 
irbere the evaporation was in excess of the supply, the water levels of 
|fae lakes continnously sunk, until on account of the diminished surface, 

6 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



] 



the eqnilibriura of loss and gain was attained. Hence the exceedii 
saltness of Oreiit Suit Lake, the Dead Sea, etc. For a like reasoa tl 
wat^r of the Mediterranean is more saline than that of the ocean. Eva] 
oration exceeds the supply, requiring a constant current through tho^ 
Strait of Gibraltar to meet the deficiency. The same is true of the R«d' 
Sea, causing a like current through the Strait of Babelmandeb. y 

Other salt or brackish lakes aud ponds probably owe their saltneaf 
W the supplies from the land. Water is the most general of all solveutSi' 
Th^e rains gather up the chloride of sodium fr()m the soil and disini 
grating rock, and, where streams flow into lakes whose only outlet 
evaporation, they must be a const-out source of saline supply, and the! 
waters must become more and more salt, until their capacity as a sol- 
vent has been reached. 

The Utah basin must once have been filled to its brim with ocewi 
water. The outlet has been evaporation. The lake, receding to its 
present level, has left many evidences of its former extent. 

To the drving up of salt lakes is due the presence of rock salt, often 
found in great quantities in regions of little rainfall, 

I come lastly to the trends of the North American lakes. A good 
map, and especially one on the Mercator projection, will show that lakec 
are not dotted promiscnonsly here and there with no regard to system. 
They have with each other a trend of direction, often as well defined am 
that of mountain ranges, or the coast lines of continents. As already 
stated, the great American depression bifurcates at about the fortieth 
parallel, and nearly at right angles, into northeastern and northwestern 
branches, whose lines of trend respectively lie in approximate parallel- 
ism with the far-off Appalachian and Rocky Mountain ranges, and witii 
the still farther-off Atlantic and Pacific shore lines. 

Geologists and physical geographers have noted the fact that th« 
mountain ranges, the shore Hues of continents, and the islands with eaefa 
other, have lines of trend mostly northeastward or the northwest- 
ward. The lakes of North America have similar trends of direction,, 
and therefore form an integral part of the system on which the p'aaet 
itself has been built. This is as should be inferred. That the line of 
depression should have an approximate parallelism with that of tlw 
adjacent upheaval, is but a physical necessity. 

Not only is this true of a system of lakes, but of each lake as welL 
Athabasca and Great Slave lake lie exactly in line from western Lak6 
Erie to the mouth of the Mackenzie; while individually their lines at 
greatest length are at right angles to this. But if ray theory be true, 
there should be found near these lakes local land swells with Gorm* 
ponding direction. 

Many thousands — perhaps millions — of years before man was o« 
the earth, the LaareDtjan Hills were raised above the dark waters. 



^•1 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



43 



They reach back to the very dawn of life od oiir planet. Both the pri- 
mordial CDutinent and the primordial life wore the prophets — this of the 
higher organic life, and that of the continents and islands which were 
yet to be. 

This (irifrinal continent has held its own. It was the initial in the 
building up of North America. It had the form of a right angle, one 
limb pointing northeastward and the other northwestward. This is the 
normal plan. It is the structural arrangement, not of this continent 
only, but uf all continents; and our lake depressions conforming to the 
general system, are an additional witness to the common underlying 
laws and forces of which the earth itself is a grand phenomenon. 





I 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, 



Los Angeles. 



f9p 



1887. 



SAN FR&NCIBCO: 

OnsBBT * CowPANT, Elbotbio Powxb Pan 

us Mu-kot Sbwt. lost beld* Fint. 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



OF 



SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, 



Los Angeles. 



1887. 



SAN FRANCISCO: 

CuBBRY & Company, Elbgtbio Power Printers, 

415 Market Street, just bclcm Fin>t. 
1S86. 



CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS 

Historical Society 

southern california. 



CONSTITUTION . 

ARTICLE I. 

■ The name of this Society shall be The Histoeical Society of 
lonxHEBM California. 

ARTICLE II. 

The objects of this Society shall be the collection and preservation 
f all material which can have any bearing upon the history of the 
icific Coast in general and of Soathem California in particular ; the 
a of historical, literary or scientific subjects ; and the reading 
I papers thereon ; and the trial of such scientific experiments as 
ill be determined by the Society. 

ARTICLE m 

The officers of this Society shall be a President, two Vice-Presidents, 
a Treasurer, a Secretary, and a Curator, who shall be elected aunaaUy 
-by ballot, and who shall hold office nntil their successors are elected 
1 installed. 

ARTICLE IV. 

i Amendments to this Constitution may be made tit any regular 
ieting of the Society by vote of three-fourths of the members then 
jsent, one month's notice of intention to make such amendments 

toTing been first given. 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 



BV-LAWS. 

ABTICLE L 

Section 1. — Every applioatioE £or membership to tliis Society bIirUi 
be in writing, which shall be presented at a stated meeting ; the 
applicant shall be recommended by at least three members of the 
Society who shall vouch for his character and fitness for membership. 
Every application shall lie over four weeks before it can be balloted 
on. 

Sec. 2. — Every application mast be accompanied by an admissioB 
fee of two dollars. 

Seo. 3. — New members shall be elected by ballot, a majority vol 
electing. 

AETICLE n. 

Section 1. — The stated meetiags of the Society shall be held oi 
the first Monday evening of each calendar month at 7:30 f. a. 

Seo. 2.— ^Seven members shall constitnte a quorum. 

Sec. 3.— Notice of the times and places of meetings shall be sent 
to each member by the Secretary of the Society. Special meetings 
may be called by the President, or in his absence by the Vice-Presi- 
dents, in their order, acting as President 

Sec. 4. — The annnal election of officers shall take place at the stated 
meeting in Januarj-. 

Seo. 5. — All meetings of the Society shall be public. Stated meet- 
ings, with the exception of the annual meeting, shall be devoted to 
the consideration and discussion of historical and scientific sabjecta. 

ARTICLE nL 
DUTIES OF 0FFICEH8. 

Section 1. — It shall be the duty of the President to preside at au 
meetings of the Society ; to enforce a strict observance of the mlea 
and By-Laws of the Society ; to see that all other officers pertoml 
yie duties of their resjjective positions ; and toappoint all 
anless otherwise directed by vote of the Society. 

Sec. 2. — In the absence of the President the Vice-Presidents shall 
take his place in the order of their rank, and shall perform his duties. 

Sec. 3.— It shall be the duty of the Secretary to attend all meetings 
ot the Society, keep a record of its proooedinga, give notice of its 
meetings and such other notices as may be ordered by the Society, am 
to conduct the correspondence. 

Sec. 4. — It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to collect all dues, ta 



HISTORICAL SOVlBXr OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 



e and safely keep all moneys belonging to the Society, and dis- 
burse the eame as ordered by the Society, taking receipts therefor ; 
he shall keep an account with each member and notify all in arrears ; 
he shall render a quarterly report in writing to the Society of its 
finances. At the annua! meeting he shall make a detailed report of 
the receipts and expenditures, which shall be referred to an auditing 
committee apiroijited by the Society. At the close of his term of 
office he shall transfer to his successor all books, papers, moneys, and 
other property belonging to the Society. 

Sec. 5. — It shall be the duty of the Curator to receive and safely 
keep all papers read before the Society, and all papers, books, 
pamphld&s, maps, cui'ioB, specimens, or other property, donated or 
purchased by it. As far as practicable such collections shall be kept 
open for inspection and examination to all members of the Society, 
At the annual meeting he shall make a hill and complete report of all 
articles presented, and the names of the donors. It shall also be his 
duty to properly label, classify and catalogue curioa received or 

tarchased by the Society. 
ARTICLE IV. 
L STANDING COMMITTEES. 

WECnoN L — There shall be three Standing Committees, the mem- 
ers of which shall hold office one year, or until their successor^;- 
are appointed : an Esecutive Committee, a Finance Committee, , 
a Publication Committee. 

Sec. 2. — The Executive Committee shall be composed of five mem-- 
bers, who shall exercise a general supervision over the interests of the 
Society. 

Sec. 3. — There shall be a Committee on Finance eomposed of three 
members, whose duty it shall be to order all supplies, audit the 
accounts of the various officers, pass upon all bills presented, and if 
approved draw a warrant on the Treasurer for payment of the same. 

SEa 4 — The Committee on Publication shall be composed of three 
members, whose duty shall be to examine and report upon all papers 
be read before the Society, and select such as shall be thought 
to publish in its annual pamphlet or other publication. 



ARTICLE V. 



\ Section 1. — Tlie annual dues of the Society shall be three dollars, 
»yable quarterly. The dues of new members shall begin witli tlie 
ftdate of their election to membership. 



8 HISTORICAL SOCIETr OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

Sec. 2. — No member whose dues are unpaid Bhall vote at 
fttmiml meeting for the election of officers, or be entitled to s cop; 
the publications of the Society. 

8ec. 3. — The namea of those two years in arrears shall be dropped 
from the list o£ members. 

Sec. 4. — Notice of resignation of membership shall be given 
writing to the President of the Society, but no action can be taken on. 
such notice until the member has paid his dues in foil. 

Sec. 5. — The fiscal year shall terminate with the annual meeting^ 

ARTICLE VL 

AXENDHENTS. 

Section 1. — The By-Laws of the Society may be amended by • 
two-third's vote of the members present at any stated meeting of tlie: 
Society ; notice of such amendment having been given in writing 
a meeting at least one month previous to sach vote. 



ORDER OK BUSINESS. 

MOSTHLI MEETINGS, 
Call to order. 

Beading Minutes previous meeting. 
Beading Commanications. 
Report of Publication Committee on papers to 
Rending of Scientific and Historical papers. 
Discussion. 

Proposals for membership. 
Reports of Standing Committees. 
Reports of Special Committees. 
Election of members. 
Unfinished Business, 
New Business. 
Adjournment. 



ANNUAL MEETINQ. 
1. Call to order. 
% Reading Minutes. 
8. The President's Annnal Address, 
4. Annual Report of the Secretary. 



HISTORICAL SOCIBTT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, 9 

6. Annual Beport of the Treasurer. 

6. Annual Beport of the Curator. 

7. Annual Beport of the Executive Committee. 

8. Annual Beport of the Finance Committee. 

9. Annual Beport of the Publication Committee. 

10. Announcement by the Treasurer of the names of those who 
have paid their dues in full and are entitled to vote. 

11. Election of President 

12. Electioii of two Vice-Presidents. 

13. Election of Secretary. 
14 Election of Treasurer. 

15. Election of Curator. 

16. Adjournment. 



ORGANIZATION 

January, 1887. 



OKKICE^RS. 
President— lEA MOEE. 
Vice-Presidents— H. D. Barrows, E. W. Jones. 

Secretary — E. Baxter. 
Treasurer— J. M. Quinn. 
Curator— Ira More. 

COMMITTEES : 

Executive— E. AV. Jones, C. N. Wilson, K Baxter, 

J. C. Oliver, E. Sclireiber. 

Finance — John Mansfield, J. M. Guinu, 
A. F. Coronel. 

Publication — Isaac Kinley, H. D. Barrows, 

H. S. Orme. 

departments : 

History of California — Goo. B. Griffin, Chairman. 
Col. J. S. Warner, A. F. Coronel. 

Geology and Mineralogy — E. AV. Jones, Chairmm. 

N. Levering. 

Meteorology — H. D. Barrows, Chairman. 

E. Baxter. 

Botany — C. N. Wilson, Chairman. 
J. C. Oliver. J. C. Nevins. 



> X a-aa-v I »*ri 



IfilSTORICAL SOCIETY 



SOUXHBRN CALIFORNIA. 



LOS ANGELES, 1887. 






PRESIDENT MORE'S ADDRESS. 

To know what man can do, we must first know what he has done. 
The possibilities of the race are only read by the light of the past. 
The knowledge of history is thus a factor o£ progress, and we are 
hardly in danger of over-estimating its value. But it must be studied 
judiciously ; he who looks for startling things, as great battles, 
powerful kings, and brilliant combinations of talent ; and he whose 
oapacions maw swallows every fact, great or small, are alike on the 
wroag track and profiting little by the study of the great retrospective 
Bcienca We study the citizen of the past, Lis food, his dwelling, his 
Bocial relations and political affinities ; the slow growth of institutions 
fitted to bis needs, the failures that he made, the gems he unearthed 
that sparkle on the stretched forefinger of old Time forever; and those 
he valued, but which perished with the using. 

All this brings us to the question : what can toe add to the historic- 
al knowledge of the race that shall round to more completeness the 
lives of those who may follow us ? And, first, our field has been 
pretty thoroughly harvested ; this modem Israelite, Bancroft, has 

ade no provision for gleaners, neither fence comer nor loose hand- 

:1 of ears. He has gathered the corn and left but the empty husks 
to satisfy the hoUowneas of his disconsolate followers. In plain Eng- 
lish, Bancroft's volumes are immense storehouses of facts, not always 
well digested nor happily presented, but full and complete. The pon- 
derous volnmes of the " Native places" are so minnte that the dust of 
the diatrict library Ues on them undisturbed. The Mission days are 



12 HISTORICAL SOCIEXr OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIJL 

eqoatly full, and we may do little except to see by tbe memaries ( 
early settlers some scanty facts iu slightly altered liglit. 

Let it be granted for argument's sake, that we could add material]^ 
to the history of the Spanish occupation ; where is its value ? Is i" 
not rather food for the antiquarian than for the student of hietoryT 
The delight of the "Snapper-up of uncoueidered trifles" rather than 
the aliment of him who strengthens himself for life's battle ? Had 
these Mission institutions grown into the California of to-day, evei] 
shred of that history would hare its value ; every speck of life iti 
survival in our modem goverumeut. But the Lord planted the gol4 
and the gold brought the Yankees from Maine, Kentucky, and Texasj 
and the Yankees brought their laws, customs and nasal twang bodily; 

old things were swept away, and behold all things became new, 

score or two of names, a few crumbling adobes, and all is told. Oni 
civilization developed along the lines of early England, and still < 
liar Augeln, and Saxony ; from the tribe and its chosen leader, nol 
by the transmission from a superior to an inferior race. 

But does this state of tilings render our Society useless, or otn 
labors void ? Not in the least degree. We are in the midst of i 
history-making period. California ia just realizing that the 1 
sources of wealth and prosperity are not in her quartz veins, but i 
her matchless boU and sunlight ; and the cry goes up for some aysteiq 
of distributing her waters which shall bring the greatest good to t 
greatest number. The problem has never been viewed from thii 
atand-poiut before, and consequently there is not, and never baa b 
a system of laws at all answering to our wants. We must make them 
for ourselves. And we shall make them, and the new code will ba , 
tested and settled within the next decade. There is fame in store £i» 
the man who carefully records the growth, agitation, and settlemeDt^ 
of this question. 

The history of the introduction of nseful plants and animals is not 
beyond our reach, for the period is not by any means closed. There 
is not now a reliable and connected account of where our Eavorita 
grapes, oranges, lemons, olives and apricots, came from, and every 
year diminishes the possibility of making such a record. 

Even a dry statement of events in this stirring age of experimeafr 
and invention, a skeleton which the future historian should clothe' 
with flesh and breathe the life into, would be of far more interest tliait 
the Saxon Chronicle. 

But we take Natural History also to be our province. Here is 
work enough. There are unnamed plants in our mountain gorges. 
Our minerals, always excepting gold and silver ores, lie neglected. 
Our geological strata are unknown leaves in Nature's book ; and who 



r 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 13 

knows why oar geological volame consists mainly of two covers, with 
the leaves nearly all gone ? Prom azoic to cretaceous, whose rude 
hand hath rent and scattered the Silurian, the Devonian, the Carbon- 
iferous, and the TrJassic, and left not a trace behind ? Or were these 
strata always missing, and why ? 

Our climate also is worthy of all shidy. The west coast of the 
Americas lias a climate not only differing from, but almost totally 
unlike, all others. It must be studied here. Eastern signal service 
men cannot even work up its data intelligently. They are still trying 
to make Atlantic cyclones fit our shores. 

But we are busy men in a busy community. We have little leisure 
from our bread and butter getting to attend to these matters. We 
may not expect to fill our monthly meetings with the record of origi- 
nal work. But next in value to work of our own is the power of u&ing 
fittingly the work of otliers. Let us read to understand, and bring 
in the thought which strikes us as beat in each section of oar work, 
and it may stimulate and guide us to brighter, better and more suc- 
cessful efforts of our own. 

While I would not undervalue the business tendencies of men, nor 
sneer at commercial prosperity, still it would seem that we are made 
for something nobler than just that. The intensely selfish man en- 
tirely wrapt up in his own affairs, and the man who makes a business 
of philanthropy, are both undesirable members of society. Better is 
he, who while attending strictly to his business affairs, devotes the 
shreds and patches of his time to studies which broaden bis views 
and elevate his thoughts, and make him, while still be lives among 
B and treads the earth, to touch the stars. 



RAIN, HAIL AND SNOW. 

Br HENBt D. BAER0W8. 

Some time ago there were pnbliehed in the public press extracts 
from a paper by Lieat. Powell, ol the Geological Sarvey, in which' 
that officer discussed the question of Atmospheric pressure, etc, a 
connected with rainfall. Also Dr. J. P. Widney of this city, in a 
local journal, cited some of the minor causes affecting the amoitnt t 
rainfall in a given section. But neither gentleman gave promineuoA 
to, or, BO far as I saw, even touched upon, the prime factor in the 
causation of aqueous precipitation the world over, whether it be i 
the form of rain, hail or snow. 

It may seem presumptuous for a layman or non-expert to critioiM 
experts. NeTertheless, I take that liberty. I can at least set np m 
row of interrogation points, which they, or any other man, may "bowi 
over," if they can. 

Of what avail are " pressure " and " cyclonic currents," etc, as rain- 
producers, if the moisture-laden currents of air move from a coH 
region to a warm one ? Is not the eEfeet of such relative transition — ■ 
i. e., from cold to warm — everywhere and always, to rarify the aiTi 
and to attenuate and dissipate — and vot condense — the moistnre, or 
vapor or clouds, in the air? And is not the effect of the transition <rf 
a moisture-bearing current of air, from a warm — no matter how war 
— locality to a relatively colder one — as illnstrated artificially in " t] 
worm of the Still," iu the distillation of Spirits — to chill, to retard and 
condense, and, if the change of temperature, from warm to cold, is great 
enough, to precipitate, iu visible drops, the water carried in attenuated 
solution in the air current ? Or, to state the matter in a nnt-BheU, 
does not cold serve as the grand condenser, and sifter and precipita- 
tor, of the aqueous particles that always fioat in air currents ? 

Is not. then, any attempted espoaition of the theory of rain defecU 
ive, that does not take into account relative heat and cold (through 
which wind corrents move), and the effect of each, on both the air 
itself and the vapor it carries ? Is it not a fact, universally 
recognized, that the heat rarifies, attenuates and makes lighter, tha 
atmosphere ? and does not every body also know that it has the a 
effect on water iu its vaporous state^thoagh it has a contrary effect oa 
the latter in a frozen state, or when its temperature falls below 40 de* 
grees, centigrade ? And ia it not evident without saying, that the coa* 
verse of this statement must be ti'ue, namely that cold condenses i 
and water also, when in a state of vapor ? 



r 



HISTORICAL SOCIBTr OF SOUTHER!^ CALIFORNIA. 15 

Furthermore, is not this true in each caae when the beat and cold 
are only relative ? Is not moisture as readily precipitated in the 
tropics, where air currents of 100° Fahr. and upwards are forced in 
the direction of a relatively colder temperature, as it is in the temper- 
ate or arctic zones, although the warm region of the latter {from 
which the currents come) may be many degrees colder than 
the cold region of the former ( towards which they are driven) ? And 
is not a discussion of atmospherio preasnre or of air currents, 
cyclonic or other, in connection with the causation of rain, without 
reference to relative heat and cold, as incomplete and uneatiefactory 
as would be the play of Hamlet with the part of Hamlet left out ? 

If the temperature of the great ocean of air which envelopes the 
earth were uniform or unchangeable, if such a state were supposable, 
I. e., if air currente always moved in an even unvarying temperature, 
the phenomenon of rain would probably be unknown. The watery 
particles that are constantly rising by evaporation would, of couree, 
after the air hod become surcharged with them, seek the earth again, 
perhaps in the form of mist, but not in the form of rainfall — i. e., of 
visible drops of water in mid-air. Much less would this happen with 
currents moving from a cold to a relatively warmer region. Indeed, 
in this latter case, would not the precipitation of visible drops of 
water be an impossibility ? Spiril^ vapor in a still-worm ending in a 
heated furnace will not materialize in visible drops. Every body in 
cold countries is familiar with the phenomenon of the formation of 
visible moisture on the window-pane from one's breath. But if the 
glass be in close proximity to a hot fire, no moistore will distil on it 
from the relatively cooler human breath. It would be contrary to a 
simple natural law. Therefore I repeat : Relaiive Cold is the grand 
condenser, in connection with air currents, without which, these latter 
would be utterly inefficient as rain-producers. There is one other 
very important point that I have not mentioned, that has vastly more 
to do in the causation of rain than is generally supposed. It is known 
that frost is perpetual in the Polar regions at the surface of the earth ; 
whilst at say 50° North or South latitude, the perpetual snow line is 
only a little over a mile high, and at the Equator it is only about three 
miles high. What the intensity of the cold is, at the height of ten or 
twenty or fifty railea, we know not. The sun's rays only heat by refrac- 
tion from the earth's surface the lower strata of air, on which the higher 
and immensely colder strata are constantly impending or pressing. 
When there is a general lateral movement of the air near the earth's 
surface, from UiO Equatorial towards the Polar regions, the cold that 
ihe air currents naturally meet tends to condense the moisture they 
but the super-incumbent cold air above, ever pressing down- 



16 HISTORICAL SOCJETT OP SOUTHBIiN CAUFOli.VIA. 

wards, condaoes pawerfally — we know not how poworfolty— to i 
crease the condensation : and thus we have the phenomenon, whic 
has always seemed to me a sort of miracle, to wit, the formation c 
large drops of water from vapor in mid-air ! 

"When all the various causes that produce rain, co-operate, and t 
temperature into which the condensed vapors are driven falls below tl 
freezing point, they are precipitate<l in the form of snow or sleet or h 

Again : The mere local and minor causes affecting the amount c 
rain-fall, etc., of which our townsman, Dr. Widuey, speaks are onlj^ 
operative in connection with the major and vastly more import 
causes of rain, to wit : ft grand movement of the atmosphere exte 
ing over a large area ; and 2ud, this movement must be in the rigU 
direction, that is to say, it must be from a warm to a relatively coliU 
region. When these conditions prevail, and the pressure is consider^ 
able, of course, the obstructions of high mountains, especially if thai 
tops are covered with snow ; and of extensive forests, will tend to in*' 
crease the local precipitation ; and the earth in a given locality, will^ 
as a rule, absorb and retain the rain-fall more effectually if it is culti- 
vated, than if not. But all these local causes, however useful undai 
certain conditions, are of no avail without the presence of the majoii 
or larger causes ; and their influence in inducing the latter, to wit, a 
general movement of the lower strata of the atmosphere over an eXi 
tended area, towards the Polar regions, must be infinitesimal : in my 
opinion, it is absolately nil. 

I do not know if it be worth while, or if it is at all necessary tO' 
further illustrate the position I assume, namely, that relative cold ia 
absolutely indispensable in connection with atmospheric currenfagi 
to produce rain-fall ; and that re^ifii^/ieaf as certainly tends to dissi'-i 
pate moisture. Our own wet and dry seasons aptly illustrate botli^ 
these principles. Whenever the sun is north of the Equator it heate' 
and rarifies the air over the immense desert region east of ns 
the air to rush in to fill the vacuum. The auction of this inverted 
maelstrom is so strong that it overcomes all the ordinary or normal, 
processes by which rain is produced elsewhere, and would be here e 
cept for this powerful disturbing cause. It even extends, sa "Old 
Salts " tell ns, several hundred miles out to sea, and diverts inland 
each day the trade-winds, that otherwise wonid blow towards tho' 
floath-weet during sii months in the year. As the sun rises and, 
beats up with tremendous power the sands of the desert, the wind 
rises, and continues till the sun goes down, when the wind goes dowib 
Then, at nightfall, as the desert cools quickly, and the water of tho' 
ocean, having been heated to a considerable depth, cools slowly, a wind 
from the land springs up and blows towards the ocean. Thus, when tha 



HISTORICAL SOCIETr OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. XI 



Kbiiq is north of the EqnatoTj we have, each day with invariable regulari- 
^■^, a " sea-breeze," and each night, though with much less regularity, 
a " land-breeze." When the snn goea soHth in winter and ceases to 
heat up the desert, it becomes possible for eootherly winds to prevail ; 
and then rain-fall here, as in other parts of the world, becomes possible. 
Our position between an ocean and a desert makes our climate 
unique. "We have that exceedingly rare thing, a tropical climate 
without tropical heats, thus enabling people of the Caucasian race 
and of northern countries to live in comfort, in a country where the 
orange grows. If, however, a continent instead of an ocean were west 
of us, our daily sammer winds would be hot instead of cool— as our 
summer "northers" are — and as a consequence our summers would 
be intolerable for northern people. Or, on the other hand, if the 
Colorado Desert east of us were, as it once was, an arm of the sea, 

K) would no longer have dry summers. 
I will close with one more illustration of the effect of heat and cold 
vapor-laden air currents. 

Several years ago I had occasion to cross the arm of the Mojave 
Desert, between tlte Solodad and Tehachapi mountains, on the present 
line of the Southern Pacific Railway. It was in the month of January, 
and a snow and sleet storm was prevailing at the time on tliose moun- 
tains, but noi on the desert between them. It was an interesting 
eight to witness what appeared to be the parting of tlie clouds as 
they came over the desert, but which was in fact their sudden disso- 
lution and dissipation. Dense masses of them in rapid succession 
melted away and disappeared before my eyes in a twinkling ! Whilst 
the storm continued to rage on both mountain ranges, as we could see, 
the sudden warmth of the desert caused the clouds between to 
disappear as if by magic. I had often before watched the slow pro- 
■j«es8 of dissolving clouds after a storm, till the gradually attenuating 
^H^Bpor finally became invisible. But in this case, the transition from cold 
^Plo warm was so sudden, that the storm-clouds that had just been dis- 
charging their burden on the cold mountain ranges, all at once, as 
they came to the desert, dissolved into thin air. And thus, within a 
apace of twenty or thirty miles, I saw the strange spectacle of a snow- 
storm on two mountain ranges, and blue sky over the desert 
between 1 The temperature changed so suddenly from the mountains 
to the valley, that expansion, rarification and extreme attenuation set 
in at once, and dense vapor became invisible by a process, extremely 
rapid, but analagous to that wliich we see exemplified every day in 
summer, by the licking up of the moisture in the atmosphere around 
as— whether invisible or in the form of clouds or of fogs from the 
ocean — and carrying the same inland and depositing it in the great all- 
consutning vortex created by the abnormal heat of the desert 



AESTIVATION OF CALIFORNIAN MASON SPIDERS 

BY HIB8 SAltAH F. IIOKES. 

Estivation is the peculiar habit that some animals of tropical oli- 
mates have of retiring to dena, or nests, and remaining torpid, or seioi* 
torpid, daring the dry season. It is a state, closely allied to hibematiaO' 
oE animals of colder conntries. The Germans call one winter, and 
the other, summer sleep. Late in autumn many animals— as, 
bears, weasels, marmots, rats and hedghogs— creep away into hollow 
trees, or caves, or burrows, or hollows in the earth, and remain in ft 
state of suspended animation till the warm weather of spring ; and 
snakes, turtles, toads and fishes, insects, and mollusks, hide 
leaves, among rocka, or burrow in the mad, and stay dormant all till 
oold weather. 

The sleep may be broken or continuous. In perfect hibernatioD, i 
DBstivation, normal functions, snch as respiration, digestion, and toIo 
tary action of muscle, are entirely, or almost, saspended. It ia u 
to be possible to keep a hibernating animal for a long time unharmi 
in gas that would soon destroy its life under ordinary conditiona. 
The summer sleep closely resembles the winter sleep, and by some i| 
thought to be due to the deathless memory of a boreal ancestry. Soim 
fishes and mollusks are known to remain alive in mud burrows wh) 
ftll the water is evaporated fiom shallow ponds. Fish have even st&yi 
for years in the mud of drained lakes and appeared as good as ne 
when the water was again supplied. Hibernation and estivation c 
not seem to depend upon heat or cold, although these are important 
factors. They seem rather provident arrangements incident to 
emp^, or much depleted, larder, and are habits that it might be i 
for some Anti-Poverty philanthropist to introduce into the hai 
family. The dreamy stupor, the trance, the sleep of the Seven 
Sleepers, Rip Van Winkle's nap, and the slumber of the Sleeping 
Beauty, have been favorite fancies of the' imaginative for ages, bot 
they are repeated among lower auimala with all the romance, beaa^ 
and sentimental or hamorons fascination swept away. They are 
duced to a food basis. If worms go down to the depths of the 
and insects swing in cocoons, or lie motionless in pupal wrappings, 
hidden in wooden cradles, then small mammalian people with 
feeding tendencies must fold their little paws, and sleep their dr( 
less sleep, taking no note of time till crickets shrill and gra&shoppi 



HISTORICAL SOCIETr OF SOUT?tBRH CALIFORNIA. 19 

whirr among the grasses of the sweet-scontad eastern Spring or our 
tropicctl green December. 

When the waters dry away, or freeze, then the food of water dwell- 
ers dries, or freezes also, or dies, and there is nothing for the eaters 
to do bat to die, or sleep off the effects of nothing to eat. So also tJie 
gastric uerv.'s of toad and reptile are more affected by minimum food 
than raasimam cold: and scarcity of food, or difficulty in obtaining it, 
is the primary cause of hibernation of some species of bears. 

The summer lifelessness of Califomian foot-hilla leads one to think 
that many animals here take long stesfas even if they do not properly 
SBstivate during the dasty dry eeaaon, A little patient investigation 
in tins line would no doubt reveal some interesting facts. 

The Mason spider is one of the beet examples of persistent sum- 
mering. It is eminently proper for the whole family to shut up doors 
in May, or June, and not open them till November, or later, if continu- 
oofl rains do not come. At this time the adobe is cracked and fis- 
sured, vegetation is dry as hay, aiid mustard stalks and dry grass have 
been burned in many places, leaving the earth brown- and charcoal- 
stained. In fact, liuding nests in these burned-over patches, with 
doors clogged with ashes and singed vegetation from the early sum- 
mer fires, showing that they had not been opened since the burning, 
was one of the things that led me to suspect these spiders of summer 
sleeping. In some nests are females and young ; in others single 
males or females ; never two grown ones in one neat. The females 
shut themselves up to lay their eggs. In the tubes the young are 
hatched and moult once or twice. All the doors of small or medium 
sized tubes are securely fastened on the inside. If one is found un- 
fastened, it is large and never contains a male ot young. These open 
ones are probably occupied by misanthropic and independent old 
maiden or matron spiders that are utterly regardless of the " sweet 
obser^■ance8 " of spider high life, and perfectly able to protect them- 
selves, come what may, in summer or winter. But comfort- loving 
males, mothers with very young children, and demure and decorous 
maidens and matrons, securely close the doors, pull down the blinds, 
let the dust gather on the door-steijs and are severely not at home 
during the out-of-town season of the long, hot, dry and foodless sum- 
mer months. 

The closing of the nests is as complete as the other work of the 
little brown spinners. At the upper end of the inside of the tube they 
spin a stout white silk band, about a quarter of an inch wide, con- 
necting the door with the sides of the nest, This silk ring is so strong 
that it requires considerable prying and force to tear it free. Ijarge 
spiders are content with this protection. Small and medinm sized 



20 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

ones, vhose doors smug easily <M their hiuges, build an inside Btom 
door by bringing up enrth from the bottom of the tube and p 
iiig it up agaiast the door, completely plugging up the place within 
the silken ring. Then, when the outer door is pried open instead of a 
tube, a patch of adobe is found that might lead some deludeil Tarstv- 
tula hawk, or spider-affinity creature into thinking there never had 
been a nest there, and tempt him to the concluaion of the olden timfl 
anti-geologists in regard to fossil shells, that the hinged door ' 
merely a fi'eak of nature. 

It has been possible to esamine a great number of nests and coil> 
tents in a short time by means of a neat device suggested by a friend. 
The nests are fille<l with water and soaked a short time, then the sill 
lining can be loosened and twisted and pulled out entire. The Cteni- 
za does not mind a ducking as much as does its relative the Taraiw 
tula (Mygale). The latter comes to the surface and tries to crawl 
away when water is poured in her nest ; the mason spiders c 
up, but retire to the water on slightest alarm. When the spiders feal 
the walls and foundation of their homes sliding up, they place thai 
feet against the sides and hold on with all their strength, and eom» 
times the silk breaks midway and leaves them in triumphant pos< 
session of their inundated houses. When they are pulled ont ikt 
spider is half way up the tube, and on reaching the surface is i 
spread out with her efforts of resistance that the tube is nearly 1 
By this soaking process the contents of the nests were easily exi 
and a number of males found liviiig singly in tubes. They generally 
had them shut witli botli silk and mud. I had the satisfaction < 
seeing males dig and shut up tubes, so that it is certain that sonifr 
times, if not always, they make the tubes, instead of inheriting thei 
from maternal ancestors. Finding a male in a silk- or mud-sealeii 
nest di<l not prove that he had made the nest — only that he had epoi) 
the silk aud fastene<l the door. He might have hidden there as i 
any hole or crevice. 80 I put a male in a jar of earth and watched 
him with a great deal of interest He went to work like a gentleman 
and did Tchat was expected of him. He built a nest He worked ii 
dustriously, but awkwardly, for his long legs seemed constantly i 
his way. When females are making a home they bring up the eartll 
pressed under their fangs and dexterously fillip the bits ont of tbA 
mouth of the tube, so that they fall several inches away. Tlie male) 
carry the dirt in the same way, but none that I saw work had leametl 
the trick of tossing it away. Consequently, scraps of earth that 1 
Ifllxiriously brought ap would often fall back into the tube, because h^ 
did not push them far enough away fmm its mouth. He used hiq 
spinneret the same as females do. When the nest was completed hg 



HISTORICAL SOCIETT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 21 

did not build a hinged door, but was content to pull together grains 
of ndohe Eind bits o£ dead weeds and stick them fast with silk to cover 
orer the tiibe. These granulated doors serve excellently in broken soil, 
OS they are as difficult to see as the better doors. The females make 
the same kind in summer. They never will work if they can help it, 
and if the nests are broken during the dry season, or the doors torn 
off, they spin silk over the openings. It was a satisfaction to learu 
that at least one male lived in a tube and could dig, spin and make a 
home for himself, but it was not proof that it is a masculine charac- 
teristic. He might have been an exception, a genius, or have taken 
after his mother, and not till I had seen several males do tlie same 
was I convinced that it was the regular order of business, and house 
work and home decoration were as proper for males as for females 
of this division of spiderdom. Much depends upon the soil given 
them. Sometimes in coarse grained earth they hollow out a cavity 
and line it with silk and back into the place, and sometimes they 
scratch np the small lumps of earth and pull together bits of straw 
and weave them together with silk and make caverns large enough in 
which to hide part o! the body, but when they have adhesive adohe they 
prefer a good sized tube with a silken door. Only in a few instances 
have the males wasted their time in aimless and tiresome efforts to 
climb up the sides of a gloss jar. The pains taken to secure their 
summer homes against intrusion, indicates wily and persistent foes. 
One of the invaders was found in a trap-door nest. In several tubes 
bits of yellow silk had been found. Trap-door spider's silk is white, 
or only dirty white when very old ; never yellow. In one nest there 
was a dead wasp, wrapped in yellow silk, suspended across the tube. 
It had eaten the spider, finished its ow'n larval life, spun its yellow 
silk across the nest, and hung its pupa case from a central point ; 
then, when the time for it to break tlirough tlie chrysalis and come 
forth a full grown wasp, it died, perhaps from the closeness of the air 
or from indigestion caused by eating too much spider. The facta on 
which I base the belief in ffistivation are as follows : the doors of 
nests in the field show that they are not opened for months ; in dug 
ont tubes, broken places and broken doors are covered or replaced 
with continuous silk ; the great majority of doors of field nests are 
held down with silk or silk aud mud. Enough have been examined 
to lead to this conclusion. The numbers, examined three times, are 
as follows : Sept 13, nineteen sealed with silk, six with mud and 
silk, four unsealed ; again, Sept 15, twenty-one with mud, twenty- 
seven silk, four unsealed ; again, Sept 17, thirty silk, thirty-six mud, 
six unsealed. Abont the same ratio was kept up in all examinations. 
They are so securely hidden in their nests, that their summer condi- 



22 HISTORICAL SOCIBTT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

tion cannot be known. Whether they sleep all the time and Batisfy 
the crayings of hanger by dreams of food to oome, or sleep a while, 
then waken to hearken for the splash of rain, the klepsydra that times 
their resurrection, no one can tell ; but this is certain : the Toluntaiy 
prisonment is long. When disturbed they are loth to labor, and soon 
after the first rains the silken rings are broken, the doors are opened, 
and the young disappear from the nests — ^the summer sleep of the old 
is over, and the young go forth to struggle for existence and to ex- 
perience the joys and sorrows of a spider's life among the foot-hilla 




the 



A few miles north of the town of Malad, in Idaho, and close to the 
oorthern line of Utah, stands the northern rim of the vast basin which 
once held the inland sea, now universally called Lake Bonneville. 
This ridge looks down to the north upon a broad green valley, sweep- 
ing away to the east and west, and from it winds down steeply the old 
stage-road from the " Great Basin " to Montana. The valley slopes 
gently from east to west Its upper end is the point where the waters 
of the great lake broke over their barriers and began their journey to 
the ocean, and down this broad valley they swept, a mighty river no 

lubt At present the valley shows no striking indications of having 
been the channel of a great river. The adjacent mountains for 
the most part slope smoothly to it, and the broad bottom, through 
which a pretty creek meanders, is rich pasturage and hay land 
throughout its whole extent. It is called Marsh Valley and the 
oreek Marsh Creek. At its upper end are two small lakes and a 
Bmall extent of marsh land, from which probably the valley derives 
its name. 

At the lower end it bends to tlie north, and four or five miles further 
m a great black vomit of lava has poured out from a canyon, rugged with 
iks of basalt, on the right, dowu which tumbles a mountain torrent, 
the Portneuf River. This stream of lava poured dowu the valley, 
mostly filling it, northerly and westerly for thirty miles or more till it 
merged into the sea of fire which tlien filled the valley of the Snake 
Biver. Other streams followed the first, and not all reached its desti- 
Dation. The last flow was plainly less fiuid, and about ten miles down 
terminates abruptly in a bluff several hundred feet high. The sides 
of these lava fiows are high cliffs of clean black basalt. On either 
aide of the lava, which oocnpies about the center of the valley, run 
the two creeks, Marsh Creek and the Portneuf, to blend into the Port- 
neuf only at a point below the bluff. The stream of lava is a half mile 
or more wide, and, if ray memory serves me, covered with a dense 
growth of sage-brush and other shrubs. The other streams crop out 
lower down the valley, showing benches along the sides and tables 
in the bottom. With edges broken squarely off and abrupt sides 
from a few to perhaps fifty feet high, their almost coal black faces are in 
contrast strangely with the verdure which in the spring-time covers 
ap-land and low-land, for the pasturage afforded by their slopes is 



24 HISTORICAL SOCIETT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

rich. Where these lower Btreame enter the valley of the Snake Eiw 
they disappear beneath the soil and do not show themselves again fi 
many miles. The plain of the Snake, from the month of the Portnei 
canyon, spreads before the eye seemingly almost aa boandlese as t 
ocean. To the north a fringe of snow-covered peaks may show them 
selves above the haze. They are the tops of the Sawtooth Bang) 
a hundred and fifty miles away. Nearer, apparently in the midst c 
the plain, three lonely battes HEt their heads above it and add to t 
impression of the great distance of the mountains beyond. The re< 
width of the valley at this paint is not far from sixty miles, as thel 
Bpura of the Sawtooth and Salmon Kiver ranges on the north reach 
down to and over its edges and show their points badly scorched by 
its fires. The great river which gives its name to the region i 
here for a long distance along the eastern and aotithern edge ol tha^ 
great lava field. It has cut its channel through the field in places 
almost as squarely, as if done with the tools and skill of the engiiteer. 
At Eagle Bock, where the Utah and Northern B. B. crosses it at 
about the center of eastern Idaho, it has cut two channels and left s 
tall pillar in the centre, as if intentionally, for a pier for the bridge. 
The water here in the deepest channel is, if I mistake not, a hondnd 
or more feet deep. Here the edge of the field breaks abruptly awajr 
from the river, and, in a northwesterly direction, fifty miles of travi 
takes one, over a fairly good road, across it. Midway on the road il 
a stream stocked with trout. Of many streams which lose themselva 
in this lava, most contain fish — some trout, some other kinds. How 
did they get there ? Tliere is scarcely one of them i 
twenty-five miles to other fish-stocked water. 

The Utah and Northern B. B., after leaving Eagle Rock, maa 
northerly along the Snake Biver for a few miles and then strikei 
across the lava near its northeastern edge, over a sandy, dreai] 
region almost without a redeeming feature, till it begins to climb i" 
divide to Montana, eighty miles or more. 

At Blackfoot, twenty-two miles south of the R. B. bridge, is anothfll 
for wagons and stock, and from this point one road now leads acroi 
the lava beds for a distance of forty-two miles without water, escepj 
what is hauled from the river in barrels to a point about half-way 
This is the present stage-road to the Lost Kiver and the Salmon V&vi 
country, laid out and openetl with much expense and trouble. At il 
haU-wny point an attempt has been made, by sinking hnudreds 4 
feet into the basalt, to find water, but though it is heard 
below, it has, I believe, eluded the search. After the removal of \ 
few inches of soil from the surface, the work of sinking requires 1 
use of powder and drill No inch of depth can be attained with 



HISTORICAL SOCIBTY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 25 

them, and so far, in the desert, the work is carried on at a great di&- 
adrantage. Daring the winter season, and sometime into spring, 
pools of water fit for nse of man and beast may be found in the hol- 
low places along the roads ; but these dry up later on. From tlie 
river bottom the ground rises up by steps, abrupt and black on 
their fronts, for a short distance, whence it rolls away in undulations 
like vast billows, with crests a quarter to half amile apart, occasionally 
spreading out into plains and frequently sinking into rounded hollows, 
which are ponds when the snows melt 

Nearly everywhere the sage-brush flourishes, and a few cedars are 
scattered over the country. At a distance o£ ten miles, looking fictosb 
from the south-east, tlie lava country seems to be covered by a dense 
forest of timber— the clearness o£ the atmosphere magnifies objects so 
largely. 

Tufts of bunch grass, so minute as scarcely to be noticed, frequent 
the shelter of the bushes, and patches of rye grass the hollows, and 
white sage, a dwarf a few inches higli, covering flats and slopes where 
the winds have the freest sweep, all togetlier afford considerable sus- 
tenance tograranivorous and herbivorous beast. The prickly pear, whose 
succulent heart is food and drink to the starving plains-man, is com- 
mon, but low and small. It is a varietur which bears no fruit ; that is, 
seed-pod reaches no magnitude. The sage-brush attains a height 
six feet, and its trunk, of a diameter of upwards of six inches, in 
nooks low and protected, on the banks of little gulches, under shelter 
of cliffs and where much soil has drifted under stress of wind and 
weather. Better if the banks fi'ont northward ; there they reach the 
greater stature, for these children of dreariness and drought take 
kindly to a little moisture properly administered. Who that has seen 
something of life upon the plains and shared the benefits of that 
aromatic shrub does not render it a blessing. Its fibrous bark affords 
material for cords and ropes, and almost holds it out to the hand to 
take and use, and furnishes tinder always dry underneath for the in- 
dispensable camp fire. Its sprigs make the grand blaze which warms 
the sojouruer to tlie marrow in the chill of the evening or the morn- 
ing- Its trunk sustains the fire and yields the coals for the broiling 
of the bacon, sage-hen, Imre or trout. Its foliage cljarges all the air 
with the odor and balm of health. Made into a tipple or a lotion, it 
drives disease from the system. Many forms of vegetation adorn or 
relieve the the otherwise barren aspect of this region, and most are 
useful to man in their several ways. The prevailing winds, which are 
vigorous and fiequent, have brought and laid about their roots the 
aand and soil, the product of erosive agencies at work clear to the 
Pacific Coast. They have enabled this mass of blackness and deso- 



HISTORICAL SOCIETT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 






lation to clothe itself with verdure in many places and with soin^ 
forms of vegetation almost everywhere. Only in small areas docBthw 
basalt flood crop out in nakedness. In many of these the surfaw 
looks like a mass of great bubbles, a small portion only ot whose upper " 
surfaces show, and they are seamed and sutured, showing cryBtalliza- 
tion on cooling, after the nature of basalt. Tliese great bubbles are 
not always, but sometimes, hollow, and have been known to famish 
good shelter to good men at times, and once in a while to men of tl« 
other sort. There is no game of either feather or fur npon the* 
plains, except along their borders. There, in marehy places, aboiil 
springs and at the sinks of the creeks coming from the mountain^ 
ducks and geese are often abundant, and grouse also, in the adjai 
shrubbery. Animal life in the interior is mostly confined to th« 
lizard and the ant. Occasionally, high in tlio air, water-fowl or 
buzzards, ravens or hawks, may be seen making their way across 
from one oasis to another. 
The writer once witnessed a scene in this region, of which tlM 

following account will give a faint idea. In a little green basin, buoI 

as are sometimes found here, a short distance from water, and about haH 
an hour before sunset, my friend and self drove up upon a conclaTl 
of hawks. There were certainly one hundred of them, and may haTfl 
been two. They stood npon the short grass in a very regular circll 
of about a hundred yards in diameter, and very evenly abreast. I] 

the centre, on a stone about eight or ten inches high, stood a solitsr] 

bird of the same species, and a few yards within the circle stood thre4 
or four oihers irregularly placed, a few feet apart. Every member of thq 
conclave had his head toward the centre and evidently his attenticn 
also. Wehalted within, I think, not more than one hundred yards fi 
the nearest of them. My companion, if I remember correctly, began 
to get his gun out^ then stopped and enid, " What's going on here ?* 
The birds apparently paid no attention to us. Those nearest i 
have turned and looked at us and moved a little forward, bat nothinj 
more. The fellow on the rock made no sign of even deigning a Itx' 
at us. It was a lonely evening and silence absolute covered 
plain. We watched them at least twenty minutes. Only an oc- 
casional croak was heard, calm and deliberate, something like a4 
amen or " so mote it be." A slight change of position on the part ( 
Bome of the birds perhaps took place, and a solemn glance around by thai 
leader. The sound of the croak was not at all like the usual cry of a 
hawk, and yet the birds were hawks unquestionably, bat of what; 
species I am unable to decide at this late day. I incline to the belief' 
however, that the birds were really buzzards ; that, in common par- 
lance, all the birds of their character are termed hawks. At the end o 



r 



HISTOniCAL SOCIBTT OF SOUTHBRS CALIFORNIA. 27 

twenty minntea or bo after oar arrrval the convention broke np, and 
its members flow away without excitement and very little more noise 
from their tongaes than when in the midst of their deliberations. I 
claim in the above to have told the cold facts and without any shadow 
of exaggeration. I have always considered it a scene snch as it 
rarely falls to the lot o£ man to witness, and one of significance almost 
beyond the ability of the ordinary mind to realize. A digression into 
that field of apecolation, however, is outside the province of this 
paper. Permit me to say that my companion regarded it as a conrt 
of justice and said, I believe, that the gronp of birds inside that part 
of the ring nearest to us held their heads down and were no doubt 
Bulprita. However that may be, no punishment was inflicted under 
our observation. The birds rose together and fiew directly away from 
us. then scattered in different directions, and whether any of them 
led off victims or not I could not determine. 

There is a route across the lava sea which begins at a point about 
opposite the mouth of the Portneuf, and which is the old stage-road 
to Boise, the Idaho capital This road has bad to wind about, seeling 
passable places in the low cliffs of lava, which rise up freqnently to 
bar its progress across the country. It is, like Jordan, a hard road to 
travel, as one poor traveler once found to his cost. He started out 
bravely in the early morning, without his breakfeast, on foot, from a 
house near the river, to walk across to the Big Butt«, to catch a bull- 
train which had gone on to that point, and breakfast with it The 
Butte looked about four miles off in that clear atmosphere. That 
evening, late, he dragged himself into camp at the Butte, nearly dead. 
He had walked 35 miles under a blistering sun, over an exceptionally 
rough road, and without water to slake his thirst or food to stay 
his hunger. The train waited for him, or he might have perished. 

A line of extinct volcanoes almost parallels the road for a distance 
of four or five miles. There are seven of them within a few hundred 
yards of the road, besides the large volcano, the Big Butte, which 
stands at the north end of the line and looks like the father of the 
rest. They grow smaller as they extend away into the plain from 
the Big Butte, so that the farther one is not more than fifty feet high, 
with a crater fifteen or twenty feet across. The rim of this crater on 
one side is broken down or melted away to its bottom, a depth of twelve or 
fifteen feet. Its interior looks as fresh as if its fires raged but a year 
or two ago. About its jagged edges and down its outer slopes the 
red slag lies, and looks at a little distance as if it might still be hot. 
But all must have been extinct for ^es, otherwise the tradi- 
tions of the Indians would certainly mentiont heir activity. In gener- 
al appearance the volcanoes are all alike. Those farthest out indi- 



28 HISTORICAL SOCIBTT OF SOUTUBRy CALlFORlftA. 

cate latest action. There aid three Great Buttes, of which the lot 
termed " Big " one is the largest, which lie in a line almost east f 
■west, the nearer one abont ten, and the farther one aboat fi 
teen miles from Big Bntte, and in a line nearly at right angles to t1 
of the smaller bnttes. 

The age of these larger bnttes most be vastly greater than that of \ 
the smaller ones, as most all traces of their craters have been worn away. 1 
There aeem to be no lava streams leading away from any of thei 
craters. A ridge or high swell of lava connects the three last namec 
and is covered with soil and abundant herbag& A few miles froiq 
its foot, on the north, lies a lake of considerable extent. On close e: 
amination it proves to be ho shallow that one most wade some yardi 
from shore in deep mud before he reaches water deep enough to i 
up a clean drink. This lake covers many square miles during the 1 
high water of spring, but contracts to perhaps one-third of its size at 
that season before the next rise of the streams. It is the "sink" of 
Lost Biver, and the line of cotton-woods which marks the river's 
banks as it winds down from the distant mountains to its ''sink," 
a pleasant sight to the traveler as he looks down from the top of tha 
ridge or the side of the Big Butte, after his dry and dreary journey 
across the lava country. This stream has cut its way through a lo^ 
ridge of lava for nearly ten miles after leaving the mountains, and 
then sweeps outfortenmore upon agreat smooth basin, which it proba^ 
bly once Slled to the brim. Its waters now, no doubt, percolatAi 
through the soil and find their way through the porous lava to deep 
channels, which take them finally to the Snake Biver. Well authen^ 
cated statements make it safe to assert that in many places, from 
below the American Falls down the river, bodies of water, of greater 
or less volume, and in some instances so great as to deserve to bs 
called rivers, gush out from the high basaltic walls which there line 
the main stream and fall into it, though the writer has never witnessed 
the phenomena. It is fair proof that the nnmeroos streams whiolt 
make cut into the lava region from the mountains and then disappear, 
find their way in channels which are sufficiently clear, though they 
may be devious, at once to the Snake Biver. It is also evident that 
these waters sink through the porous lava to an impervious stratma. 
of different character along whose surface they have made their, 
channels, and I believe the walls of the Snake Biver Canyon shoir 
snch to be the fact. 

I have here given a few facts of more or less interest, recalled vOf 
tirely from memory, with regard to the second largest lava field in the 
world. This field reaches from Central California into British Ameri' 
ca on the north and to the borders of Montana and Wyoming on tho 



HISTORICAL SOCIETr OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 29 

eas^ and covers an area of 160,000 square miles. It is said to have 
bat twelve craters throughout its whole extent, and of these 
the majority have been described in this paper. This field is only 
exceeded in extent by that of the Deccan, in India, which covers an 
area of SK)0,000 sqnare miles ; but I doubt if that great field equals in 
interest our own, with its vast canyons of the Snake and Columbia 
Bivers, its intricate and impassable Modoc r^on, its vast streams of 
basalt, black and frozen in the channels down which their floods ad- 
vanced, and the varied character of the region which endoees and 
trenches upon it 



SKETCH OF SOME OF THE EARLIEST 
KENTUCKY PIONEERS OF 
LOS ANGELES. 

BX STEI-HBM 0. rOSTIB. 

[NOTK TO THK HlSTOWOAL SooraXY OF LoB ANOBLRS,— I pRSMlt tO f 

Sooiet; an old b«aver trap, thiit belonged to N. M. Pryor, snd was naed by him in 
trappinf! on the Oila aad Colorado riveia, th« winter of 1827-8, sad brought by him 
Loa Angeles. It waa given to me by Prror in I&m, and has been in my posMMioa 
ever since. I was intimately acquainted with Fryor, from Maroh, 164T, nntil bs 
died, May, 1850, and from my reoollection ot conversstiona hod with him, I ban 
written the accompanying Bket^h of the "Eentncky Pioneers ot Los Angelea.'' 
Cnpt. Paty'a party, of whom Pryor was one, was the fltat party who over oame ti 
California by the Oila rout«, and the first that ever came to Oalifornia oveilonj 
tram the Mississippi River who eettled here. Capt. Jedediah Smith's party tiappect 
the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivera, and visited Los Angeles in 1827, ooi 
by way of the Boutb Pass, but none of them remained here.] 

Nathaniel M. Pryor was bom at the Falls of the Ohio, now the ci^ 
of Louisville, Ky., about 1798, aDd removed to Missouri about 1820^ 
and from there came to New Mexico, in 1824. In 1827, in companj 
with the Patys, father and 8on, Eichard Laoghlin, James Kirker (tha 
famous Apache fighter, who afterwards, with bis motley force i 
Delaware and Shawnee Indians, Americans and Mexicans, made mora 
good Apaches than the combined forces of Meiico and the Ututed 
States have for the laat fifty years) and others denoanced, according- 
to Mexican law, the Santa Rita copper mines, situated in the Southern 
part of New Mexico, which had not been worked for some yeara* 
by the first owners. They were ousted from the possession by 
Kobert McKnight, who came to New Mexico in 1811, just i 
Hidalgo had been captured and shot at Chihuahua, Be and hw 
companions were kept prisoners until the final establishment of 
Mexican Indeirendence, ju 1821. After losing the mine, Pryor and 
hJB comrades joined a party of trappers under Capt Yontz, who werai 
on their way to trap the Gila River, Some French Creole trappeiv 
from St. Louis, Mo., had trapped the Oila in 1826, and found plen^ 
of beaver, bnt they were treacherously attacked by the Maricopae all 
Gila Bend, and leaving the river, they etrnck South into the desert, 
and after great suffering reached Tucson, with the loss of nearly theic 
whole outfit. Capt. Yontz's party were very euccesBful, and on tha 
Gila, the two Patys, N. M- Pryor, Eichard Laughliu and Jeaso 



r 



HISTORICAL SOCIB" ^^ZT'^OUTHERN CALIFORNIA. %\ 

FergasQD oonclTided to leave Toutz, who retomed to Santa Fe, and 
oome to California with their beaTer. They had heard that there 
were Ameriaan TeBseU trading oq the ooast, and they reasoned that if 
their beaver oould bear a land carriage to the Atlantic coast for a 
market, they coald realize more by selling to Americian traders in 
California than they could by selling in Santa Fe. So they tuade an 
amicable diviaion of tlieir traps and peltries, traded off their horses 
to Toatz, and soon made two canoes out of the largest cottonwoods 
they could find, and embarked, determined to follow the river as far as 
they could, and then bury their beaver and traps, and reach California 
afoot, and procure animals to transport their effects. They did not 
know where the Gila River would lead them, but they had heard that 
California was not far off to the West, and they trapped leisurely 
down the Gila to its junction with the Colorado, and down the Colo- 
rado, setting their traps and remaining at each place as long as they 
oould catch l)eaver, and then moving on after fresh sign. One after' 
aoon, they tied their canoes to the bank, some six feet high, and 
camped for the night. They found the ground wet, and wondered 
what caused it. They took their supper, and went to sleep. About 
midnight, a loud roaring noise from the South aroused them, and 
every man started up, ride in hand, ready to repel any danger that 
might threaten them. The noise came nearer, and suddenly their 
oanoes were thrown out on the bank, and they found themselves waiat> 
deep in water. Dick Laughlin happened to get a taste of the water, 
and found it brackish, and sang out, " No more beaver, boys, we have 
struck salt water." It was the bore; the flood-tide, setting up the Gulf 
and meeting the current of the river, caused a wave from six to ten 
feet high. The nest day, they began to make preparations to leave 
the river and to try and reach California. They carried their peltries 
and traps to the highest ground they conld find, dug a hole — a 
cache in trapper phraseology — and buried them, and carrying with 
them only their rifles, blankets, and two days' supply of beaver meat. 
They struck out across the desert for the nearest monntains, in a 
8.W. direction. They did not find water until the third day, and 
suffered terribly from thirst, but finally reached the old Mission of 
Santa Catalina, near the head of the Gtilf of California. There they 
found Indians, who gave them provisions, and a guide who led them 
to the summit of the mountains, where they first canght sight of the 
Faeific Ocean, which they struck at the Eosenadn, wtiere they were 
bo6pitably entertained by old Sergeant Gastelun. After resting some 
days, they started for San Diego, and on the way were met by a party 
of Mexican soldiers, who escorted them to San Diego. 

About March 1st, 1S28, there was great excitement in the little town 



32 HISTORICAL SOClBTr OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

of San Diego on the arriYal of the strangers ; every man, womtm anj 
child was on the street to view their entry. In front and rear rod) 
the lancers, and between them, dreesed in their bnckekin soits, widf 
their heavy rifles on their shoulders, foot-sore and weary came tha 
BonB of the "dark and bloody ground." Among the spectators wera 
some sailors from an American vessel, then in the harbor, and they 
gazed on their countrymen with as much curiosity as did the natives' 
of the land. On reaching the barracks they were required to give a^ 
their arms, and were committed to the guard house, pending an iiH 
vestigation. They had no passports for California, but Pryor had 
his naturalization papers as a Mexican citizen, and Capt. Paty had % 
copy of Capt Youtz's permit from the New Mexican Authorities ttf 
trap on the Gila Biver. 

Their detention was but for a few days, and they fared sompto- 
oosly, for Mexican hospitality to strangers is great Among their first' 
visitors was Friar Antonio Peyri, the founder of the Mission of 
Luis Bey, who rode forty miles to tender his good serviceE 
their release. After the nsnal routine of red tape, taking deposition^ 
etc., was ended, Father Feyri enquired if there was any silversmiHi 
among them, as some of his Church vessels needed repairs, and Pryor 
offered his services, as he had learned the trade. The good Friar 
also offered to furnish animals to bring their effects, and a captain (^ 
a Boston vessel offered to buy their beaver at a much better prioa 
than they could have got in Santa Fe. 

Capt. Paty was the oldest man of the party, and he was sick from th« 
fatigue of the march from the mouth of the Colorado to San Diego. So 
they concluded to wait until Paty's recovery, and Pryor accompanied' 
Father Peyri to San Luis Bey. He was treated with the utmost kind- 
ness, and was well paid for his work. When he finished, a message 
came for him to come to San Juan Capistrano, as his services were 
needed there. So he went, and then came a call to San Gabriel, where 
he found Joseph Chapman — the first "American in Los Angeles," who 
had been captured in 1818 at the Ortega Ranch — married, and with 
several children. Soon came a message calling him to San Fernandez 
and he bid fair to visit all the twenty-two Missions of Oalifomia, but 
as the time was drawing near when they were to start for the river, ho 
returned to San Diego. There he found Paty much worse, and they 
were forced to delay their departure. Paty was most kindly attended 
by the people, both men and women, and one day he called his com" 
rades to his bedside, and said, "Boys, your old captain is dying, he 
never will see old Eaintack again. The women here have been 
urging me to become a Catholic. I don't know mach abont it, and I' 
have little time to learn, but it will do me no harm, where I am goingi 



HISTORICAL SOCIBTY OF SOUTHERN CAUPORNIA. 



33 



and it must be a good religion that makes these women care for a 
poor old man like me; not my own old wife and daughters could have 
waited on me better than they. So, I wish you to be present at my 
baptism, to-day," The ceremony was duly performed. Don Pio 
Fico, then a young man of 27 years, and Dona Victoria Sominguez 
de Estudillo, sister of the late Don Manuel Dominguez, stood spon* 
sore for the grey-haired convert, old enough to be their father. The 
end soon came, and there was the grandest funeral San Diego had 
ever seen. At the head of the procession came the old Franciscan 
friar, with his white-robed acolytes, next came the bier, borne on the 
ghoulders of four Califomiaus, followed by the son and his com- 
panions, and as many of the crew as could attend from a Boston 
vessel in port, and after them, the whole population of Sao Diego. 
He was buried with the solemn ritual of the ancient church, and when 
the last words were uttered: "Dust to dust, and ashes to ashes," 
around could be seen the kneeling women, offering up their prayers 
for the response of the soul of the poor old stranger. And thus they 
buried the old trapper in consecrated ground, the first American 
buried in California soil. 

After the funeral, Pryor and his party proceeded to the Colorado, 
where they found that the annual flood of the river had reached their 
C€icke, and all their beaver was spoiled; so, with sad hearts, they 
returned to San Luis Rey, bringing their rusty traps, Los Angeles 
then was the largest town in California, so they concluded to go there, 
end Father Peyri gave them a letter to Antonio Roclta, a Portuguese 
mason, who had worked for many years on the buildings of San Luis, 
and had now married and settled there. So, in August, 1828, the four 
survivors arrived in this place, and presented their letter to Rocha, 
who lived on Spring street, in the adobe house, where the old county 
jail stands. The county bought it of Rocha's heirs, in 1853. Itocha, 
on reading the letter, said that they were welcome, as foreigners, for 
he, too, was a foreigner as well as they, and they were doubly welcome 
for the good friar's sake, and to make his house their home as long as 
they wished. So they took up their quarters with the hospitable 
Portuguese, and the younger Paty soon left and started back to 
Kentucky by sea, where he published an account of his adventures, 
most of which is false, and has the same relation to the true narrative 
that Robinson Crusoe has to the journal of Alexander Selkirk. Pryor 
began working at his trade, and Laughlin and FergUMon got a whip- 
saw, and went to sawing lumber in the mountains. 

On Christmas eve, 132S, the brig Danube, of New York, with a 
crew of 28 men, dragged her anchors in Sau Pedro Bay in a " south- 
easter," and went ashore, a total wreck, and the orew started for town. 



HISTORICAL SOCIBTT OF SOUTHBRff CALIFORNIA. 



rerOS 

oha, ■ 



There was a friendly cooteBt between Don Antonio Maria Lngo, win 
brought the first American to Loe Angeles, and Ilooba, as to win 
should entertain them. Booha claimed the right as his, for thej wen 
foreigners and so was he; and if Lngo was the richer man, he, Itooha^ 1 
had the biggest house in town, and the little Portagnese's heart » 
bigger than his house, and he carried his point. Carts were sent to 
meet them, the fattest beef was killed, the huge bee-hive-head oven 
was soon lighted, and servants were busy in the kit«ben getting n 
to entertain the Christmas guests. Three carts, drawn by long-hornet 
oxen yoked by the horns, arrived in front of the house, loaded will 
the ship-wrecked sailors, and Bocha, with his old guests, stood th€«i0 
to welcome the new arrivals, who were soon seated at an abandnnl 
repast. And never was their a happier Christmas party in '. 
Angeles than that, where the trappers and sailors ate and drank theil 
entertainer's health in bumpers of old Lugo's wine. 

Of the crew of the Danube, two remained and settled hero — Samuel 
Prenticfi, native of Connecticut, and Johann Groningen, native < 
Hanover, the first German in Los Angeles. The latter lived and die4 
here under the name of Juan Domingo, (Anglice) John Sunday, 
(German) Johann Sonntag; but his true name bis nephew gav« i 
His German name was one no Spanish tongue could pronoimce, &d4 
so they called him Domingo, but from a slight limp he was most ooiDf 
monly known as " Juan Cojo " {Laine John). 

The nest John that turned up here was Col. J. J. Warner, and th^ 
named him Juan Largo (hong John). Fryor, from his trade, wav' 
known a9"Miguel, el Plfttero" (Michael, the Silversmith), and Ijangh-- 
lin, the Irish Sentuckian, the most popular of them all, whoae qoiok 
repartee and lively wit was the life of every circle, one for whom eveiy 
man had a friendly word, and every woman a smile, was nameii 
"Ricardo, el Buen Mozo" (Handsome Bichard). Pryor, Domingo 
and Laughlin all married, and left children; Ferguson also marriec^ 
but had no children. He went to Lower California, and died about 
1843. Prentice never married, and died some 25 years since on Santa 
Catalina Island, where he was buried. Laughlin, Pryor and Domingo 
all owned vineyards. That of Domingo, since known as " Domingo 
Block," and bounded N. by Aliso, and W. by Alameda streets, is now 
covered with houses, and not a vestige of the house, vines or trees 
remains. That of Pryor was W. of Alameda street, extending from 
Aliso to First streets. The house still stands, and there I ate mji 
first meal in Los Angeles, for there were no hotels here till 1849t 
Under its hospitable roof have slept Geo. Kearney, Cols. Fremont, 
Mason, Cook and Stevenson; and Dr. J. S. Griffin could tell of many 
a pleasant meeting of Capt. A. J. Smith, Lieut, (now Gov.) Stoneman, 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 35 

Lieut. J. B. Davidson, Capts, Taylor and Stevenson, himself and the 
writer, at Prj'or's hospitable board, in 1847-8. Laughlin'B place was 
on the E. eide of Alameda street, and his sons still live upon it. 

When the Pioneers came to own vineyards they found a nse for 
their bearer traps. The steel springe had just the right shape to be 
forged into pruning knives, and the iron was of the right shape for 
the heavy spurs and bridle bit^ then used ; and to these uses they 
were all pnt, except the one presented to your Society, thus fulfilling 
the words of the Scripture: " They shall beat their swords into ploDgh 
shares, and their spears into pruning hooks." 

Langhlin died in 1846, Domingo, 1858, and, together with Pryor, 
are buried in the Roman Catholic cemetery of this city. 

Believing, that amid the bustle and progress now seen in the 
metropolis of Southern California, this sketch of the earliest Pioneers 
of Lob Angeles would prove interesting, I dedicate this to your 
Honorable Society, only adding, that among those of the past genera- 
tion still living, both Spanish and American, there are none but 
pleasant memories of "Michael, the Silversmith," "Handsome Dick," 
" Lame John, the Dutchman," and " Old Sam, the Fisherman." 



A BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

Of the "Recoptlacion de Indias" — or Spanish India Code — a 

other Collections of Spanish Laws relating to ike Indies, 

compiled during ike Siasteentk, Seventeenth 

and Eighteenth Centuries. 

BT QEO. BDTLEB QfilFFIK, L.L-B. 

The great discovery of Christopher Colambos coincided in point 
time with the overthrow of Moorish power in Spain, and, as a oatai 
conaeqaence, the extinction of the last hope of the Moors for Moslent. 
conquest in Western Europe. Owing to thie unwonted state of peftoOh 
thousands of brave men, descended from a race of warriors which for 
Beven long centnries had waged ceaseless war against foemen equally 
brave and equally etubbom and themselves inured to a life beset, 
with peril and hardship, found their occupation gone. When, there* 
fore, to the hereditary craving for deeds of daring were added thtt 
two other great incentives to action characterizing the Bpaoiard oi 
that epoch — a thirst for gold and religious fervor — it can not be 
dered at that every ship sailing from Seville bore westward a thronfl 
of eager adventurers. 

At first, the laws of Spain, based on and growing oat of the wonder* 
fnloode of a monarch justly called " the Wise," were all-sufficient four 
the guidance of those of the king's subjects who went beyond Bea% 
but the unexampled rapidity with which these men conqnered a netf 
world never dreamed of by Alfonso el Sabio, and greater in extent 
than all Europe, soon made it evident to the most extraordinary man 
of his time, the Emperor Charles V., that his new dominions ra> 
quired laws framed to meet circumstances which did not and could 
not exist in the mother country, and that the proper framing of then 
laws called for the appointment of a body of trained advisers. Wheiv 
as the natural resnlt of the marriage of the Emperor's illustrioas 
grandparents, the political entity known to us as Spain— or, as the 
united kingdoms were theit called, ike Spatns — came into being, each 
of the countries of which it was composed was governed through a 
special oooncil. As Castile was the more important of the two king, 
doms, the Congejo de Caattlla, or Council of Castile, became, as of 
right, the more prominent of these advisory bodies, and to it thft 
monarch entrusted all that related to the government of the Indiea.' 
But it was found, as I have mentioned, that the quick and vast 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHEUIf CALIFORNIA. 37 

pBDsion of tranaatlsntio affairs entailed care and attention greater 
than conld be given to them by conncilors not only burdened witli 
the care of the kingdom but enmeshed already in that web of Euro- 
pean politics wherein their master played the spider's part. There- 
fore, as a preliminary measure of relief, and for the purpose of man- 
aging all that related to mere matters of trade with the colonies, the 
famous Caaa dc Coniraiacion, or India House, was established at Se- 
ville — the only port of Spain open to commerce with the Indies. 
Later, the Consejo de Indias, or India Council, relieved that of Cas- 
tile of the burden of all Indian affairs in both hemispheres, and, 
until the downfall of Spanish power in the two Americas, remained 
the medium through which the will of the monarch was made known 
to the inhabitants of these distant provinces of the empire. With rare 
exceptions, the decree issaed through the medium of the India Council 
applied with equal force throughout greater Spain, and, for a period 
of nearly three hundred years, the same law was received and obeyed 
wherever the flag of the castle and the lion was given to the breeze — 
in La Plata and in Manilla, on the Mississippi and on the Magdalena, 
in Mexico and in Peru, alike. Most of the laws embodied in the 
Recopilacion de Indias, or Code for the Indies, were of equal force 
in all Spanish colonies ; bat, in the fallowing pages I shall consider, 
in addition, as far as the same are known to me, such collections of 
laws, general or partial, as applied particularly to Spanish America. 

According to that eminent bibliographer, de Leon Pinelo, the 
earliest collection of printed laws relating solely to the Indies was that 
of the ordenanzas for the government of the audiencia of Mexico. 
This book was printed at the city of Mexico in 1545, in the first press 
that came to the continental portion of the new world. This press ' 
had been brought across the sea in 1532 by Don Juan de Zumarraga, 
first archbishop of Mexico and one of the most marked characters of 
an epoch fecund of such as he — for, if with one hand he conferred 
upon America the great engine of modem freedom, in the other he 
bore the sconrge with which he, and spiritual successors like him in this, 
for three centuries flayed the souls of myriads of unhappy fellow-beings. 
On this press, also, was printed the first American book — the Docirina 
Criatiana, published in 1532, years before the birth of the grand- , 
parents of those who landed at the rock of Plymouth. 

De Leon Pinelo says also that, in 1552, a collection of laws similar ^ 
to the one I have mentioned was made, by order of Don Antonio de 
Mendoza, viceroy of Peru, for the government of the audienda of 
Lima. I oan not find any evidence that these ordenanzas were 
Probably the collection remained in manuscript, as the 



HISTORICAL SOCIBTT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, 



work is not mentioiied to any other of the several bibliographic 
examined by me. • 

Later, the J?scal of the audie^ma of Mexico, the Zicenciacio !><« 
Antonio Maldonado, began a compilation, to which he gave the name ' 
of reperlorio de laa ddulas, provtsumes, y ordeitanzas reales, bat it 
does not appear that he completed his task, although, in 1556, a royal 
ddula authorized bim to do so. 

It Iiad now become evident in Spain as well as in America, that tl 
time had come for the pablication of a complete collection of the vari. 
oos c^dulas, cartas, provtsiones, ordenanzaa, inairtuxiones, and thd 
like, dispatched by the crown for the government of the Indies — fa 
these were now very many in number and some coniticting with otheiBi 
so that both beyond seas and at home ignorance of the law, while i| 
excused no man, was unavoidable, even in those who in the name td 
the King administered that law. Therefore, Don Francisco Hemandei 
de lA^hfeaa, fiscal of the India Coancil, in 1552 made to that body ox 
official representation of the necessity for such a publication, bat 9 
was only after the lapse of several years that the work was entered 
upon in earnest, though no good reason for the delay appears. 

Meanwhile, by a cid'da dated 4th September, 1560— in its ] 
visions simply a repetition of that of 1552 — ^Don Luis de Velasoo, ^ 
roy of New Spain, was ordered to cause to be printed a compilation a 
such documents as were of force within the jurisdiction of th 
audieiicia of Mexico. The task was entrusted to I>r. Vasco de Foga^ 
an oidor of the audiencia, by an order of the viceroy dated 3rd 
March, 1563. With such expedition did de Faga proceed that tlu 
work was printed at Mexico — " a koTya y gloria <le iiuestro Senor Jeail 
Chrisio " — by Fedro Ocharte, and was finished, as the colophon iB< 
forms us, 23rd November, 1563. It is probable that de Fuga, being a 
magistrate, had oompiled for his own use the necessary collection o| 
these laws, and that thus his labor was lightened considerably. Tha 
book is a small folio, containing two hundred and thirteen leaves anj 
an index of thirteen more, printed in the German type of the period— 
Ocharte probably having learned his trade from the German printers, 
who were the pioneers of the art in Spain, and who were brought y 
thither by Charles V. — with quaint initial letters of various sizes, theJ 
largest being adorned with representations of incidents in the livee oH 
Xoah, David, Joab and other worthies of the old testament. IjM 
general, the proof-reading of Spanish books, even the earliest, wan 
very well done, but the proofs of this book were read carelessly ; thn 
general appearance of the work, however, is highly creditable to tfalfl 
period aud the country. In fulsome Latin, as was then customary^ 
the book is dedicated to the viceroy, and contains the cidulas an^l 



HISTORICAL SOCIETT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 39 

other laws, relating to New Spain, which had issued from 1525 to the 
date of the compilation, but not arranged in chronological order. 
The collection ia preceded by Alexander's bull o£ concession to the 
Catholic Kings and the celebrated clause of the will of Isabel the 
Catholic which relates to the treatment of Indians. 

The position of viceroy of Peru was always looked upon as the 
highest American honor to which a Spanish gentleman could aspire, 
and to it that of New Spain was considered merely a stepping-stone, 
although in one instance, for certain political reasons, a viceroy of 
New Spain who had been promoted to the viceroyalty of Lima, re- 
turned to his former post. Why, then, the audiencia of New Spain 
was favored thus is not clear — unless it be because it was of earlier 
creation than that of Lima. When, however, in 1569, Don Francisco 
de Toledo was sent as viceroy to Pera, he was ordered fo cause a simi- 
lar compilation to be made for use within the limits of his juriadic- 
tion. 

But the work was not undertaken — or, if undertaken, upt completed 
— for, in the coarse of the following year, Philip II. ordered that a 
general compilation of laws and provisions for the government of the 
Indies should be made. It was intended that this work should meet 
fully the long-felt want and that it should be a perfected code — as far 
as possible— for old laws no longer binding were to be excluded and 
those in oonfliet one with another reconciled, while new ones were to 
be provided in order to meet circumstances otlierwise unprovided for. 
Of this work the whole of the first book was compiled, yet only the 
first title — that which related to the India Council and its ordinances — 
was printed, and even this not until 1393. De Leon Piuelo, while 
unable to give the compiler's name, conjectures that the publication 
of the work was suspended because of his death. This, however, was 
the beginning of the Code for Indies ; many years were to pass be- 
fore the completion of the work. 

In 1587 the ordenaiizas of 25tb September of that year, relating 
solely to the powers and duties of jndges of the India House, wei'e 
printed, and tour years later, the ordenanzas of 1552, for the better 
regulation of that establishment, issued from the press at Madrid. 
An edition of the latter book, with considerable new matter added 
thereto, was published in 1647. In 1585 the leyes y ordenanzas for 
tbe government of the Indies, and the ordenamns n* 20th January, 
1582, concerning the dispatch of the fleets for New Spain and Tierra 
Firme, were published at Madrid, and the ordenanzas of 14th July, 
1656, regulating the Univeraidad de los mercaderes de Sevilla, or 

I vhst may be termed the board of trade of Seville, were printed in 

Ti Oaatemala. 



I 



40 HISTORICAL SOCIBTT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

In 1594 the Marques de Cafiete, viceroy of Peru, caneed to be 
printed, at Lima, a small volnme of ordenanzas bearing upon tbo 
eabject of the good treatment of IndiaoB. 

Bat^ with the lapse of time, the absolnte necessity for the publica- 
tion of a general compilation had become yearly more urgent, agd- 
precisely when, however, I have been nnable to discover, though it 
must have been at some time during the years 1594-6 — Diego de En- 
cinas, a clerk employed in the office of the King's Secretary, was 
ordered to make a copy of all provisiones, cartas, eidulas, and the 
like, dispatched prior to the year 1596. De Leon Pinelo gives this 
date as 1599, but in doing bo he is clearly in error — ^he, or the printer 
possibly, since the error may be typographical — as is shown by the 
date of publication, for the compilation, in foor volumes folio, issued 
from the royal press at Madrid in 1596. Mr. HarisBe asserts that 
these volumes " were suppressed by the Council of the Indies, as En- 
cinas had prepared them without being previously authorized so to 
do" ; but, although de Leon Pinelo — on whose statement undoubtedly 
Mr. Harisse founds his assertion— states that Encinas went on 
printing his four volumes without any lictntcia, censura, or aproba- 
cion, I find myself obliged to differ on this point with the eminent 
scholar and bibliographer whose name I permit myself to use in this 
connection. With all due deference, I venture to submit that for once 
Mr. Harisse is in error. In the law of 16th May, 1680, declaratory of 
the authority of the recopilacion published in that year, this law being 
embodied in the work itself, it is very clearly mentioned, not only that 
Philip ordered de Encinas to do this work, bnt that, owing to their 
faulty arrangement, these volumes " aun no han saiisfecho el inienio 
de recopilar eti forma convenienie" — even yet have not satisfied the 
intention of codifying in proper form. To my mind it is clear, not 
only that the compilation of De Encinas was published — without the 
nsual pre-reqnisites of formal censure and approbation it may be— bnt 
that it was in nse, for want of something better, for nearly a century. 
Consequently it was not " suppressed." It was, at length, superseded 
— and this after having been so long in use, because it did not eatiB- 
ty the intention of the King in that its arrangement was not what 
that of a code should be. 

Shortly after this, Alvar Gomez de Abaunza, alcalde del crimen of 
the audiencia of Mexico, and later an oidor of that of OnatemaU, 
compiled, in two large volumes, a Tepertorio de cidulaa reales ; bat 
this was not printed. And in Spain, about the same time, Di^o de 
Zorrilla, with or without the royal sanction — I cannot discover which 
— began to codify the laws relating to the Indies. Making copiona 
extracts from the bulky and ill-arranged tomes of de Encinas, he 



r 



HISTORICAL SOCIETr OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 41 

added a seleofdoo of dduiax, and the like, of more recent date ; but, 
having received an appointment as oidor of the audiencia of Qoito, 
he left the vork incomplete and in mannscript 

In 1603 there was published at Valladolid a folio entitled Ord^ 
nanzaa reales del Concejo de Indias, and another thin folio of fourteen 
leaves, bearing the title of Loyes y Ordcnamas niievamenie hechaa 
par Su Majesiad para la gobernadon de laa Indias, was printed 
at Madrid. In 160i a folio with the vague yet comprehensive title of 
Ordenanzaa realea para la Caaa de Contraiacion de Sevilla y para 
otras oosas de las Indias, and another entitled Ordenanzas Itealea 
para el Oobierno de los Tribunales de Coniaduria Mayor en loa 
Reynoa de las Indias, issued from the press of the capital. 

In 1606 Dr. Hernando de Villagomez, a member of the India 
Council, began to compile — for his own use, I am led to conjecture — 
cldulas and other laws relating to the Indies, and, two years later, 
the famous and energetic Conde de Lemus being president of the 
Bidia Oounoil, Yillagomez and Don Bodrigo de Agnilar y Acufia, one 
of his colleagues, were appointed a committee to attend to the forma- 
tion of a complete collection. But the absorbing duties of their high 
office entirely engrossed their attention, so that nothing was aocom- 
pliahed by them — nor by Don Fernando Carrillo, who attempted to 
finish the task. About the same time, Don Juan de Holorzano y 
Fereyra, an oidor of the atidicncia of Lima, began to make a collec- 
tion of oidulas, and sent to the India Council the first book complete, 
as well as the titles of the additional five books which it was hia in- 
tention to compile. In a carta real he received the thanks of the 
King for what he had done, was charged to continue his labors and 
was instructed to send to the council each book as soon as it should 
be completed. I do not find, however, that he ever compiled more 
than that portion of the work which X have mentioned. 

In 1619 there was printed at Madrid a folio entitled ordenanzas 
para el remedio de los dailos i inconvenienies que se siguen de los 
deseaminos y arribadas maliciosas de los navios que navegan d las 
Indias Occidentales. At this time smuggling had become a. fine art, 
and the tribunals were busy with crown cases. Soon afterwards, Don 
Antonio de Leon Finelo, to whom I have had occasion to refer so fre- 
quently, at the time one of the judges of the India Hoose at Seville, 
presented to the India Council the first and second books, nearly 
complete,of iiisrfwcursoso6re la importancia, forma y disposicion de 
la recopilacion de leycs de Indias, and the work was printed, in one 
volume folio, in 1623. De Leon Pinelo acknowledges frankly that he 
extracted freely from de Encinas" tour tomes, adding merely some 
cidulas of which he had obtained knowledge while in the colonies, 



42 HISTORICAL SOCIETr OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

■where, it appears, he had server! the crown in Bome capacity, and at 
Madrid. On receiTing the work the cooneil, by a decree of 19tJi 
April, I62i, instructed its author to enter into relations with the per- 
son who for several years had been the "custodian " of the recoptla- 
cion, and authorized him to examine at will the books and papers ia 
the archives. For two years de Leon Pinelo employed himself assida- 
oasly in the examination of some five hundred books, in manuscript 
of cidulns and the like, containing more than three hundred thoosand 
decrees. In the law authorizing the publication of the recopilacion 
of 1680 — a law to which I have referred previously — it ia stated that, 
in 1622, a similar task had been confided to Don Kodrigo de Agoilar 
yAcuGa, already mentioned, and undoubtedly he was the ''nisfodian 
referred to anonymously by de Leon Pinelo. The only information on 
this point which I have been able to obtain comes from de Leon Pinelo, 
and his way of writing about the matter, taken in connection with the 
little that he does say, leads me to believe that the jealousy bo com- 
mon among literary men, and in a form so exaggerated when these 
are Spaniards, dwelt in the soul of one, or both, of the worthy gen- 
tlemen. As de Agnilar y Acufta was the superior iu station, and as he 
was at work already when the appointment of de Leon Pinelo 
made, we may infer that the latt«r was forced to take the inferior 
position of assistaut. He acknowledges that the two were instructed 
to act in unison, but, in the sumario, gives us to understand that each 
labored on a separate compilation. However, whether they labored 
together or separately it is not absolutely essential for us to know. 
In 1628, so well had the work progressed, it was considered advisable 
to print for the use of the Council an epitome of that portion which 
had been completed. Accordingly the sumario de la recopilacion 
general de las leyes issued from the press. This work, it may be 
said here, was reprinted at Mexico in 1677. Shortly after the publi- 
cation of the work in Spain de Aguilar y Acnfia died, and no one 
being appointed immediately in lus place, his coUaboratenr, unaided, 
went on with the task until 1634. On the 20tli October of that year 
the Council formally approved the work that had been done, but, for 
some reason to me unknown, it was not until exactly one year from 
this date that the manuscript of the recopilacion was presented to 
that body. It was referred for examination to Dr. Juan de Sol6r> 
sano Pereyra, who had been recalled from Lima in order to take a 
Beat in the India Council, and, on the 30th May, 1636, he gave hia 
formal apr<Axicion to the work upon which the compilers had bestowed 
several years of close attention, involving the examination and classi- 
fication of more than half a million of cMulas and the like. 
Bat even this work did not answer fully the purpose for which it 



r 






HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 43 

was intended, and many years were to elapse before the appearance 
of a complete recopilacion. Meanwhile many partial compilations of 
the laws were made, both in Spain and in different provinces ,of the 
Indies, and of these several were published. In order to carry out 
more fully the purposes of this sketch I make some mention of them 
liiere. 

In 1634 the ordetianzas dc la junta de giierra de Indins had been 
iblished. In 1646 Don Juan Diaz de la Calle compiled and pub- 
lished, for the use of the India Conncil, a email quarto, entitled 
modestly a memorial, containing some of the cidukis of the recopila- 
cion. Possibly it was a little earlier than this that Don Francisco de 
Parraga y Eojas had presented to the secretary of the department of 
New Spain in the Indian Council an invimtario of tlie cSduhis relating 
to that province which had issued from 1567 to 1620 — this being a 
oontinaation of the work of de Puga. According to de Leon Pinelo 
— in the sumario — this manuscript afterwards found an abiding-place 
in the collection of Barcia. In 1647 the ordenanzas reidea para la 
casa de conlratacion de SevUla y para oiras cosas de las Indias were 
published at Seville. In 1668 the indefatigable de Leon Pinelo pub- 
lished, at Madrid, the auios, acuerdos y tlecretoa de gobiema del 
real y ^ipremo consejo de las Indias. At Seville, in 1672, the norie 
de la contratadon de las Indias Occidetitules of Don Jose de 
Veitia Linage issued from the press. As its name implies, this work 
contains the regulations under which trade with the Spanish West 
Indies was carried on. At the time of its publication the book was 
of no use at all to any but Spaniards, since they aloae were allowed 
to participate in the West India trade ; but, after many years, when 
Spain was no longer able to keep the Carribean and the Mexican 
Gulf a mare clausum, it was done into English by Captain J. Stevens 
and published, in a thin octavo volume, at London in 1700. 

During this period the publication of a complete recopilacion was 
still retarded. In 1660 the condition of the work was considered to 
be such that, the King having been consulted, it was referred to suc- 
cessive committees, consisting each of several members of the India 
Conncil, in order that all points requiring deliberation should be 
folly considered and finally resolved. Under the supervision of suc- 
cessive presidents of the Council these final proceedings went slowly 
on to completion, and at length, on the 18th May, 1680, by a royal 
decree it was ordered that the laws contained in this compilation 
should be binding thenceforth and all those conflicting with them of 
no force whatever. It was ordered, moreover, that two carefully com - 
pared and duly authenticated copies of the manuscript should be 
kept, one in the archives of the India Council, the other at Simancas, 



44 HISTORICAL SOCIETT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

for reference and the final settlement of mooted points. It was a] 
parent, almost immediately, that this arrangement was of but litt! 
practical utility either at home or beyond seas, and, the King bavin _ 
ordered, 1st November, 1681, that the compilation should be printed 
under the superintendence of the India Council, the long wished for re* 
copikicion de las letjes tie los reynos 'fc Zeis /wdios issued atoncflfroffl 
the royal press at Madrid, in four volumes quarto. 

By a provision of the recopilacion it was ordered that questions not 
fully met by the laws therein contained, or not provided for by somo 
subsequent c^dula, ordenanza or provision, should be decided in ao; 
cordance with the general laws of Spain. And, as the laws weifl 
modified or abrogated, new editions of the recopilacion were issuedi 
Bninet states that the second edition was issued in 1754, but I bavft 
been unable to verify the statement. The third edition, however, was 
published in 177i, and a fourth in 1791. During the earlier yearsoftha 
present century several editions of the recopilacion have been pul 
Hshed. 

In conclusion, I shall notice briefly such other publications of Ian 
relating to the Spanish West ladies as have come to my knowledge* 
In 1676 Don Gaspar de Escalona Aguei-o published at Madrid 
gazophiUicinm reginm penibicum. At the end of the work he in- 
serted the oril^nnmaa of 3rd July, 1573, regulating the administration^ 
of the royal treasury in the Indies, as well as the ordenanzas called 
primcras, of 24th August, 1619, concerning the regulation of tha 
iribiinales de cuentas of Peru, Mexico, and the Nuevo Reyno do 
Granada^he whole accompanied by valuable notes and comments at 
his own. Even after the recopilacion was printed, and partial col- 
lections of laws were no longer of urgent necessity, these were pal>> 
lished from time to time, both in the mother country and in America. 
Ternaus-Campans {No. 964; p. 163) stites that, in 1681, Uiero were 
published at Madrid the ordenanzas th-l concejo real de las Indias jf; 
por el rey D. Felipe IV., por su gobiemo ealablecidas (tAs de 1638. 
I have never seen the work, but it would seem, unle^ a second, 
edition were published, that Rich is in error in assigning its publioif 
tion to the year 1747. At Lima, in 1685, Don Tomas de BallesteroS' 
compiled and publis)ied the ordntanzas del Peru ; and, in the 
year, the ordeimnzaa de cruzada, for the guidance of the subdelegadot 
of tlie riceroyaltj' of Pern, were printed at the same place. In 1778 
the very important reglwnetdo y aranceles reales para el comercM 
Ubrc de Espana d Indias de 12° de Ocliibre de 177'*, issued from tbK 
press in Spain. And, a parting gift as it were from Spain to her 
tinental American colonies, in 1791-8 Don Antonio Xavier Perez 
Lopez published at Madrid, in twenty-eight volumes quarto, a com* 



» 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 45 

ihensive work entitled icairo de la legislacion univeraal de Eaparlo 

Irtdias. 

De Leon Pinelo, in his celebrated biography o£ Spanish books, 
allades to many collections of ccdulas, and the like, in his day exist- 
ing in manuBcript in different archives of Spain, public as well as 
private, but he does not give the titles o£ any or notice them more in 
detail. Concerning these it ia not necessary, even were it possible, 
to write — for nndoubtedly the same laws are to be found in the 
printed collections of which mention has been made. 

Nor, of course, is it any part of my present purpose to venture 
upon a bibliographic notice of the voluminoas coUections of the laws 
of the several independent states formerly integral parts of the cis- 
atlantic Spanish empire. Such an undertaking would prove almost 
endless, while the result obtained would be of very little value. 

The sketch I now present will be, I venture to hope, of some 
alight service to him who may wish to make a careful study of the 
history of those portions of the United States which were once subject 
to the orown of Spain, and especially to my brethren of the legal 
fraternity of that region who desire — as they shonld desire — to be- 
oome acquainted with laws which aEfected to a certain extent the legis- 
lation of our own times. To lawyers of Florida, Louisiana and Texas, 
and, though not to so great an extent, to those of California, New 
Mesico and Arizona, the invest^atiou will be both interesting and 
profitable. 



REMINISCENCES: MY FIRST PROCESSION IN 
LOS ANGELES, MARCH 16, 1847. 

BT STEPHEN C. FOSTER. 

The writer has witnessed forty celebrations of the 4th of July ia this 
cily, commencing with 1847, when he reotl the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence on Fort Hill, in Spanish, for the information of our newly- 
made fellow-citizens, who spoke only the Castilian tongae. As I 
marched in the procession the other day (July 4, 1887), I recalled the 
appearance of the city when I first knew it, so widely different from 
the present 

The outbreak of the Mexican War (May, 1846) found the writer 
at Oposura, Sonora, which place he reached December, 1845, on his 
way to Califomia, by the way of Santa Fe and El Paso, from Missouri. 
Xhe first news we had of the war was of tlie capture of Capt. Thorn- 
ton's command of U. S. Dragoons by the Mesicau cavalry, on the Rio 
Grande, and the people rang the bells for joy. But shortly after, we 
got the news of the battles of Palo Alto and Besaca de la Falma, and 
they did not rinc the bells then. 

In Jane, 1846, arrived at Oposura a small party of Americans 
headed by James Kennedy, a machinist from Lowell, Mass., who 
with his wife had come around Cape Horn, three years before, to 
the cotton manufactory at Horcasitas, Sonera : the huaband to super- 
intend the machinery, and the wife to teach the Mexican girls the 
management of the looms and spindles. As there was no chance to 
leave by sea, Kennedy had made up a party to see him safe through 
the Apache range to Santa Fe, where he expected to secure passage in 
the traders' wagons across the plains to Missouri, and I accompanied 
him ; and after a hard, hot trip, we reached Santa Fe safely in July. 

August 18, 1846, 1 ivitnessed the entry of the American army, under 
Gen. Kearney, into Santa Fe. 

In 1845, the Mormons were driven out of Nauvoo, 111., and, under 
the leadership of Brigham Young, took up their march wesbvardly. 
Their first intention was to reach California, then occupied by a 
sparse Mexican population and a few hundred American emigrants. 
They stopped one season at Council Bluffs, to raise a crop and pro- 
care means for their further progress. When the call was made for 
vtiluntosra in Missouri, for service in Now Mexico and California, none 



» 



HISTORICAL. SOCIETT OF SOUTHERl^ CALIFORNIA. 47 

were willing to enlist ss infantry, to make such long marches afoot, 
and CapL James Allen, of the 1st U. S. Dragoons, was sent to Ck)uncil 
Bluffs to try and raise a battalion of iofantry, enlisted for twelve 
months, to be discharged in California, The order was given by 
Brigham, and within forty-eight hoars five full companies (600 men) 
were raised and oa their march to Fort Leavenworth. The con- 
ditions were, that they were to choose their company officera, but 
were to be commanded by an officer of the regular army, and were to 
receive army clothing at Fort Leavenworth, The Missouri troops 
furnished their own clothing, for which the Government paid each 
man «29.50 a year. 

80, they started on their long march with their poorest clothing. 
When they reached the Fort they learned that the steamboat bringing 
their clothing and percussion muskets had been snagged in the Mis- 
souri, and every thing was lost. Their commander, Capt. Allen, was 
taken sick and died. He had their confidence, and they objected to 
serving under another commander, and to start for California without 
the promised clothing ; but the order was imperative to march, and 
the clothing could not be replaced in less than a month. So they 
sent to Brigham for advice, and he ordered them to push on, even if 
they had to reach California barefooted and in their shirt-tails. So, 
flint-lock muskets, of the pattern of 1820, were furnished them, and 
they reached Santa Fe under the command of Lieut. A. J. Smith, of 
the 1st Dragoons — the Maj. Gen. A. J. Smith of our Civil War. On 
their arrival at Santa Fe, Gen. Kearney ordered Capt Cooke, of the 
Ist Dragoons, to command them, and Lieut. Smith went with them to 
CsUforuia, to rejoin his company which had started a month before 
with Gen. Kearney. Lieut (now Gov.) Stoneman, who had just 
graduated at West Point, also went with them. 

Gen. Kearney had started with six companies of dragooas, but on 
the Rio Grande he met Kit Carsonnvith dispatches for Washington, 
from Com. Stockton, announcing that California had been taken pos- 
session of, without resistance. So Kearney only took two companies, 
mounted on mules, with pack mules to convey their provisions, by way 
of the Gila River. At Santa Fe mules were scarce, and money 
scarcer with the quartermaster, who also had to provide transporta- 
tion for the Ist Missouri Cavalry, under Col. Doniphan, then starting 
on their famous march through Northern Mosico to Oamargo, where 
their period of enlistment expired. Sut seventeen 6-mule teams, 
hauling sixty days' rations, could be spared for Cooke's command, 
and no wagons had ever crossed from the Rio Grande to California ; 
so, a road had to be found and made as they went, after leaving the 
Rio Grande, 



4S HISTORICAL SOC/ETt' OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. ■ 

Kit Carson had accompanied Kearney as gnide, and Pauline WeaTSffl 
the pioneer of /irizona, who had come with Carson from Califomi^l 
awfiited Cooke. Five New Mexican guides were hired, all nnder comfl 
mand o£ Joaquin Leroux, an old trapper, who had trapped on eveiyl 
stream from the Yellowstone to the Gila, 1 

I was tlien clerking in a store, waiting for something to turn np, -i 
when I was informed that an interpreter was wanted to acoompasy 
Cooke to California, and I went to Capt. McCusick, the quartermaster, 
with my recommendationB. Enoch Barnea, who was killed in a dmnken , 
brawl at the Ballona, in this connty, some twenty years ago, who> 
drove a wagon across the plains in 1845, in the same caravan aa my-' 
eelf, was also an applicant. McCusick was a prompt, stern man, and 
the competitive examination of the Yale graduate and the Missoiui 
mule-whacker was short, and turned on transportation and money. ] 
had n good mule, ritJe and blanket, and as to money, I could wai 
until Uncle Sam was able to pay me, as long as ray wages were nui 
ning on and I got my rations. Barnes was just off a spree, in whid 
he had drank and gambled off all his money, and pawned his rifle, e 
it would have cost 3100 to fit him out. So I won the appointmeol 
and the contract was quickly drawn, that for $75 a month and ration 
I was to ser\'6 as interpreter to California, furnishing my own animal 
clothing and arms. The contract was made October, 1846, and I 
served under it until May 17th, 1849, when the people of Lob Angelee 
elected their Ayuntamiento, and the garrison evacuated the pla<!«, ■ 
and the last seventeen months of my term I also acted as 1st Alcaldft 
of the district of Los Angeles, without any extra compensation. On 
leaving the Rio Grande, I volunteered to join the guides, as there waa 
nothing for me to do in cjimp, and we did not expect to pass throngll^ 
any Mexican settlements until we reached the Pima villages, on thtf 
Gila. Leroux'e party, ton in nnmber, started ahead, with six daytf 
rations, on our riding animals, to find a practicable route for wagons, 
and wood, and water, at such intervals as infantry could march— 
fifteen to twenty miles a day, in one case forty miles, between oamps; 
one man to be sent back from each watering place to gnide the oom> 
mand until our rations were expended, and then all to return to tbo 
commancL We thus found our way by the Guadalupe Canyon and', 
San Pedro River to Tucson, from which place there was a tra3 
to the Pima villages, and from there to California. Weaver had jtiB| 
come over the road, and there was no difficulty in finding our way. 
We ate our last flour, bacon, sugar and coffee by Jancary 14th, 1847, 
on the desert, between the Colorado and Warner's Pass. A supply oC 
beef cattle met us at Carrizo Creek, on the west side of the deser^ 
and we lived on beet alone until April, 1847, when supplies, brooghl 



froi 



HISTORICAL SOCIETT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 49 

;om New York on the ships that broagbt Col. Stevenson's regiment, 
reached us at Loa Angeles. At Gila Bend, we met two Mexicans, 
whu told us of the outbreak that took place in Los Augeles, Septem- 
ber, 1846; and at Indian Wells, on the desert, we met Leroux, who, 
with most of the guides, bad been sent ahead from Gila Bend, to get 
aasifitance from the San Luis Indians, Who had declared for the 
Americans, and held all tbe raTickos on the frontier; and be brought 
the news that Stockton and Kearney bad marched from San Biego to 
retake Los Angeles, We pushed on by forced marches towards Los 
Angeles, and at Temecula received a letter, stating that Los Angeles 
was taken, that Ki^arney and Stockton h^ quarrelled about who was 
to command, and that Kearney bad returned with his dragoons to 
San Diego, to which place we were ordeied to proceed. Arriving 
there, together with the dragoons, we were ordered to San Luis Rey, 
where, from the Bancho of Santa Margarita, we pi'ocured beef, soap 
and caudles, the only articles of rations tbe country could furnish. 
In a few days, £ity of tbe men were attacked with dysentery, and tbe 
surgeon said breadstuff of any kind would be of more use to check 
tbe disease than all his medicine. So the commissary and myself 
were ordered to Los Angeles, to try and get some flour. We found 
the town garrisoned by Fremont's Battalion, about 400 strong. They, 
too, had nothing but beef served out to tbem, but as tlie people had 
corn and beans for their own use, and by happening ai'ound at the 
bouses about meal-time, they could occasionally get a square meal of 
iorlillas y fnjoles. Here we met Louis Roubideau, of the Jurupa 
Banch, who said ho could spare us some 2,000 or 3,000 lbs. of wheat, 
which be could giind at a little mill he had on the Santa Ana River. 
So, on our return, two wagons were sent to Jurupa, and they brought 
1,700 lbs, of unbolted wheat flour and two sacks of beans— a small 
supply for 400 men. I then messed with one of the captains, and we 
all agreed that it was the sweetest bread we ever tasted. 

March 12th, 1847) we received important news in six weeks from 
Washington, overland. Stockton and Kearney had been relieved, and 
ordered East, and Com. Shubrick and Col. R. B. Mason were to take 
their places, aud tbe military to command on land, and, what was of 
far more iuterest to us, that Stevenson's ships were daily expected at 
San Francisco, and that we should soon have bread, sugar and coffee 
^ain, and we were ordered to Los Angeles to relieve Fremont's 
Battalion. So, with beautiful weather, and in tbe best of spirits, we 
began our march to the city of the Angels. Our last day's march was 
only ten miles, and we camped on the Sau Gabriel, at the Pico cross- 
ing, early, aud all hands were soon busy preparing for the grand 
iree on the morrow. Those who had a sbirt— and they were a 



1 



50 HISTORICAL SOCIETT OF SOUTHERN CAUFORIflA. 

minority — could be eeen washing them, some bathing, some mending 
their ragged clothes, and as there was plenty of sand, all scouring their 
mnskets till they shone again. We made an early start the ns 
morning, and when we forded the Los Angeles River, at Old j 
now Mflcey street, there was not a single straggler behind, 
order of march wtis. the dragoons in front. They had left Missomli 
before receiTing their annnal supply of clothing, Eind they presented 
a most dilapidated appearance, bat their tattered caps and jackets 
gare them a somewhat soldierly appearance. They had bomed their 
saddles and bridles after the fight at San Pascnnl, but a full supply 
of horses to remount them had been purchased of the late Don Juan 
Forster, and all the Mexican saddlers and blacksmiths in the country 
bad been kept busy making saddles, bridles and spurs for them. 
Their officers were Capt. A- J. Smith, 1st Lieut. J. B. Davidson, 2nd 
Lieut George Stoneman ; then came four companies of the low^ 
Infantry, Company B having been left to garrison San Diego. ^H 
all we numbered 300 muskets and 80 sabres. The line of march vrifl 
by Aliso and Arcailia sti'eets, to Main, and down Main to the QoTearsn 
ment House, where the St. Charles now stands, where the dragoons 
dismounted and took up their quarters. The infantry turned out of 
Main street past the house o£ John Temple, now Downey Block, and. . 
pitched their tents in tjie rear, where they remained until they wei 
mnstered out, June, 1847, 

I have described the appearance of the dragoons, but cannot ( 
justice to the infantry, only by saying it was Falstaff's ragged coa 
pany multiplied by ten. The officers had managed to have eaohl 
decent suit of clothes, but they brouglit out in stronger contrast d 
rags of the rank and file. On Los Angeles street were some 300 < 
400 Indians, the laborers in the vineyard, who had taken a holiday to 
witness our entry, while a groupof about 100 women, with their headrf 
covered by their rehosos, who had met at the funeral of the mother a 
the late Don Tomas Sanchez, ex-Sheriif of the county, stood looking n 
the raggeil Gringos as they marched by. On Main street were s 
thirty or forty Californians, well dressed in their short jackets &q4 
breeches with silver buttons, ox>en at the sides, showing the e 
white linen beneath. I noticed they looked with most interest at 1 
dragoons, so many of whose comrades had fallen before their 1 
at San Fascual that cold December morning, and lay buried in thai 
long grave, or lay groaning in the hospital at San Diego. We had z 
waving flags, but waving rags, and many a one; nor brass bands, oolj! 
a solitary snare drum and fife, played by a tall Vermont fifer and I 
stout, rosy-cheeked English drummer; and they struck up the "Sta 
Spangled Banner " as we passed the Government House, and kept i 



HISTORICA. 

ap antil orders were given to break ranks and stack arms. And then 
came a loud harrali from all that ragged soldiery. Their long and 
weary march over mountain, plain and desert, of 2,200 miles, was 
over. 

I will now describe two individuals who marched in that procession. 
One is the writer. 'Tis nearly forty years ago, and I was a younger 
and a better-looking man than I am now. I had left Santa Fe with 
only the clothes on my back, and a single change of underclothing. 
I had been paid off at San Luis Key, and had S200 in my pocket, and 
I tried to find some clothing in Los Angeles on my first visit, but 
could find none. So, I rode to San Diego, and through the kindness 
of a friendly man-oE-war'a man I got a sailor's blue blonse, a pair of 
marine's pante and brogans, for which I paid $20. My place in the 
column, as interpreter, was with the colonel, at the head, and I rode 
with my rifle slung across the saddle, powder-horn and bullet-pouch 
slung about my shoulders. My beard rivaled in length that of the 
old colonel by whose side I rode, bnt mine was as black as the raven's 
wing, and his was as grey as mine is now. But if I was not the best- 
looking, nor tlie best-dressed man, I was the best-mounted man on 
Main street that day. When the horses were delivered for the 
dragoons, a young man named Ortega, a nephew of Don Pio Pico, 
rode an iron grey horse, with flowing mnne and tail, and splendid 
action. I tried to buy him tor the colonel, but he would not sell him. 
The day we left San Luis, I had mounted my mule, and was chatting 
with Ortega, admiring his horse, when he offered to sell him, and I 
could flx the price. I gave him $25. The dragoon horses cost $20 
each. A few days after my arrival in this city, Lieut. Stoneman was 
ordered to scout with a party of dragoons towards San Bei'nardino, to 
look out for Indian horse thieves, and I sold the horse to him ; and 
well the Governor remembers the gallant grey that bore him on many 
a long and weary scout. 
^m I have thus described my appearance at my first public entry into 
^^Biifi city, from no spirit of egotism, but only to give my fellow-citizens 
^Hnme idea of the appearance of the former Alcalde, Prefect, Mayor 
Bnd Senator of Lob Angeles. 

But the most conspicuous man on Main street that day was of a 
different type. On our march, Dec. 1846, we were moving from the 
Black Water, just S. of the present Mexican line, towards the San 
Pedro River. The snow was falling steadily, but it wels not very cold. 
Oar order of march was, with an advance guard of twenty men, and 
twenty pioneers with pick-axe and shovel, commanded by Capt. A. J. 
Smith, to remove any obstruction to our wagons. I was riding that 
day, with the colonel and surgeon, when we overtook the advance 



52 HISTORICAL SOCIBTT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

guard. The pioneera had been cutting down some mesquHe trees thai 
obBtructed our way, and had just finished as we overtook them. Their 
officer gave the order " fall in, shoulder arms," and they formed i 
ronka of four, so that for about fifty yards we could not turn out ti 
paBs them. The right-hand man in the rear rank was at leaat 6^ feel 
tall. The crown of his hat was gone, and a shock of sandy hair, pow 
dered by the falling snow, stuck out above the dilapidated rim, whih 
a huge beard of the same color swept hie breast. His upper g 
bad been a citizen's swallow-tailed coat, buttoned by a single butt 
over his naked cheat, bat one of the tails had been cut off and stitched 
to his waistband, where it would do the moat good, for decency's a 
and an old pair of No. 12 brogans, encased with rawhide, protected 
his feet. The right sleeve of the coat was gone, and his arm t 
bare from wrist to elbow, and, by way of uniform, the left leg of t 
panta was gone, leaving the leg bare from knee to ankle. Hia and< 
clottiing had long since disappeared. But the way he marched a 
shouldered his musket, showed the drilled and veteran soldier. Thai 
ragged scarecrow had seen fifteen years' service in the British army^ 
from the snows of Canada to the jungles of Burmah. The contrasi 
between the soldierly bearing of the man and his dilapidated d 
brought a smile to every face. After we had passed, the colooi 
pulled his long grey mnstache, and said, " I never thought, when ] 
left West Point, that I should ever command such a set of ra^ 
as these. But, poor fellows, it is not their fault ; and better materi 
tor soldiers I nover commanded." And that day, when I sat on n 
horse, where Ducommon's Block now rears its tall front, to see n 
old comrades march by, in the front rank of Company A, wifi 
cadenced step and martial mien, as he had marched in his yoongi 
days to the martial music of the regimental band, dressed 
scarlet uniform of a British grenadier, strode the old ragged veteran 



APPENDIX. 



CURATOR'S REPORT. 

rroBioAL Society of Southebn Oalifobnia.: 
Gentlemen : The foUowiDg list of books and curios foim ' 
3ie present collection of the Society, bo far as it has come into 
By charge; 



BOUND BOOKS, 
oited States. President's Meeeage and DocomeDts, 3 vols., 1880-81. 

" Agrionltaral Eeporta, 1875-76-79-80 - 4 vols. 

" Oommercial Belations, 1878 - - - 1 vol. 

" Commerce and Navigation, 1879 - - 1 vol. 

" Gold and Silver Prodnetion, 1880 - - 1 voL 

" Esp. for K P. from Mississippi Biver to Pacific 

Ocean, 1854-57 5 vols. 

Cyclopedia of Anecdotes ------ 1 vol. 

American Newspaper Directory - - . - - 1 vol. 

Centennial History of Charlestown, S. C. - - - 1 vol. 

Eine Binme aus dem Ooldenen Lande, by Arohdoke Solvator 

of Anstria ..--_... 1 voL 

California Business Directory, 1877 . - ... 1 toI. 

Directory of Northern California Coonties, 1883 - - 1 vot 

Iflfe of Padre Junipero Serra .-..-- 1 vqL, 

" lvol,J 

IvoL] 

- 1vol. J 
IvoLl 

- 2 voIbT 
- 1to1»1 

- IvoLl 



Reminiscences of a Banger. Bell 
Addresses on Death of Z. Chandler, 1886 

" " " Matt. H. Carpenter 

Niles's Pacific Coast Poultry and Stock Book 
Beport of California Board of Horticulture 
Evening Bulletin, San Francisco 
Los Angeles Directory, 1883 . - - . 
Morning Call, San Francisco, Summer of 1857 



54 HISTORICAL SOCIBTT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

Weekly Southern Vineyard, 1858-59 .... 1 

1 set Br. Nor, Sch. Catalogues to date - . - • 4 vol 

TitleB of BookB — Boston Pub. Library .... 1 toI^ 

Laws of the Colony of New Tort, 1710 .... 1 T(d. 



PAIvIPHLEXS. 

Registers of the University of California, 1881-83-85 - 3 vola. 

Standing Bules and Begulations of Historical Society - 50 oopi< 

Quarterly Iowa Historical Kocord ..... 2 vola. 

Historical Fallacies. D. Campbell .... 1 vol, 

Historical Paper on Santa Cruz, California, 1876 . - I vol, 

California of tlie Padres, Hnghes .... l voL 

Hillocks and Mound Formations. Barnes - - • 1 vol. 

Early California. Kelly -.-... 1 vol. 

University of Michigan. Calendar .... 1 vol, 

RejKirt of President of University of California, 1882-84 1 vol. 

Bulletin of Phil. Society, 1884 - . - . - 1 vol. 

Warm and Cold Ages of the Earth. Warner - . 2 vols. 

Semi-Tropic California, 1882 1 voL 

Rural Califomian, 1884 1 vol, 

Apiculturiat, Oakland, California ----- 10 oopi) 

U. 8. President's Message and Documents, vol 4, 1883 1 vol. 
Great Registers for 1882: Alameda, Amador, Sacramento, 
Nevada, Monterey, Mendocino, Mariposa, Sonoma, 
Shasta, Sierra, San Mateo, San Benito, Butte, Cala- 
veras, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Solano, Sutter, Yolo, 
San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, San Lms Obispo, 
Ventura, Lassen, Inyo, 
Gh-eat Registers of Los Angeles Co. for 1875-76-79-80-82-54 

Consnlar Reports of Commerce and Manufactures - 17 toIs, 

Los Angeles Co. Guide Book 1 vol. 



Obsequies of Red Jacket, Buffalo, 1884 
Defender. Z. Montgomery ..... 
Magazine of American History, 1884, 1886 - . . 
Labor Rhymes. Isaac Kinley .... 

Argonnnt, 1886 

Map of California, 1866 

Photographs of members of Society. 
Papers Read before the Society- 
Clippings from Newspapers. 
Miaoellaneona Catalogues of Instruments, etc. 
Photograph of Breast-bone of Goose, with Arrowhead. 



ItoL 

BnoA. 

3noe. 

I vol. 

loopj 

loopj; 



CURIOS. 

Pottery from the Caves of the Cliff-Dwellers. Lommis. 
Beaver Trap from the GOa, 1828. S. C. Foster. 
Indian Pottery and Utensils. J. C. Oliver. 

Very respectfully submitted, 

lEA MORE, 

Los Angtles^ Feb, 7/A, 1887, Curator, 



TREASURER'S REPORT 

Kor the Year Ending Dec. 31st, 1886. 

BECEIPTS. 



Balance on hand at close of last year, .... 

Admission Fees (new members) ) 

Membership Dues Collected, etc. j - - - - 


$134 10 
68 25 


m ^^ 


$192 35 


DISBURSEMENTS. 

As per Vouchers on file, 

Balance, Cash on hand, 


$ 86 30 
107 05 

$192 35 


J. M. GUINN, 

Treasurer, 



SECRETARY'S REPORT 

Kor the Year Ending Dec. 31st, 1886. 

Number of Meetings held by the Society, - - - - 11 

Number of Papers read before the Society on General Subjects, 3 

Number of Papers read on Scientific Subjects, - - - 5 

Number of Papers read on Historical Subjects, ... 6 

Bespectf ully submitted, 

J. C. OLIVEB, 

Secretary, 



m 

\ 









y^-^^^S^. 



i 



™ 



" aMual publication 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



1888-9. 



ANNUAL PUBLICATION 



■OP THE- 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



■Op- 



SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



1888-9. 



LOS ANORUCS, CAL. 

FRAITK COBLVR, "THE PLAIN PRIITTBR." 

1886. 



PRESIDENTS AND YEARS OF SERVICE. 



Jonathan Trubibull Warner 1883-4 

John Mansfisld 1885 

Isaac Kinley 1886 

Ira More 1887 

Henry D. Barrows 1888 

Edward W. Jones 1889 



OFFICERS FOR 1889. 

President Edwabd W. J4 

First Vice-President C. N. Wil0o4 

Second Vice-President Edwin Baxtb 

Secretary. : B. A. STSPHnm 

Treasurer J. M. Guno^ 

Curator Ira M019 



STANDING COMMITTEES FOE 1889. 



Executive. — ^Major C. N. Wilson, J. M. Guinn, B. A. Stephens, Don 

F. Coronel and Judge E. Baxter. 
Finance. — General John Mansfield, N. Levering and Dr. H. S. Orme. 
PuBUCATiON. — B. A. Stephens, H. D. Barrows and Professor Ira More. 
History. — H. D. Barrows, Rev. J. Adam and General John Mansfield. 
Geology. — N. Levering and Professor Ira More. 
Meteorology. — J. M. Guinn and Dr. Walter Lindley. 
Botany. — Major C. N. Wilson and Dr. W. F. Edgar. 
Genealogy and Heraldry. — Col. G. B. Griffin and B. A. Stephens. 



HONOBABY MEMBEBS. 

Hon. Jonathan Trumbull Warner, 

Hon. Stephen C. Foster, 

Ivan Petrof, 

Col. Jonathan D. Stevenson, 

General John C. Fremont, 

Mrs. Jessie B. Fremont, 

Col. Lyman C. Draper. 

Rev. J. D. Cruea. 







§mu^si ^mhm. 



DE. V. GELCICH. 

COL. J. F. GODFREY. 

CAPT- J. Q. A. STANLEY. 

JUDGE A. KOHLEE. 



C^^^ 



-Lii?;- 



I^stlring nddreas of eit-President, H- D. B 
eped, danuAPy 14th, 1889. 



ouaa, DellV" 



I 



TTSOTHER twelve months bave paaeed and our young aociety meets agftin 
/■*■ »t the beginniug of a new year under favorable auspiceB. By patiently 
working on the lines we have adopted, and by gradually, and as we are able, 
enlaiging the sphere of our labors, we hope our aociety, in time, will have 
M:cummulat«d historical data relating to our section and country, that will 
have real value to tho<e who come after us. 

The history of one's own locality is always interesting and instructive. 
Especially is this true to those whose home is in California. There is a sort 
of romance attaching to our annals which run back — and not so very far, 
cither — to a different race and to adifferent civilization from our own Anglo- 
Bnxon. Indeed there are still many living, who have witnessed the gradual 
blending, here in our own sunny valleys of manners and customs and tra- 
ditions, which were brought from Spain by the con quistad ores long ago, 
with those that were brought from England, at a somewhat later period, by 
the Puritians aud by the Cavaliers. And, going bock still farther, the 
Spaniard himitelf was preceded here by a primitive race, the Indian, whom 
he strove to civilize or christianize, and who gave a certain coloring to the 
Spaniards, isolated pastoral civilization. 

One of the distinctive charms of the story of "Bamona," aside from the 
subtle art of the gifted authoress, which, to the cultured is always charming, 
is the picturing, so true to life, of a Spanish type of civilization that flour- 
ished right here in Southern California, where we Anglo- Americans are 
building our homes. That Southern California is a rich and attractive field 
for the historical student is evidenced by the fact that two history com- 
panies — the Bancroft Company from San Francisco and the Lewis Company 
from Chicago — at the present time have bureaus established here, for the 
exploration of our historical wealth. Our society has two aims in view in 
its history lines, namely, to gather and preserve whatever it can from the 
past of our locality ; and second, to give to the future, so far as we may, 
pictures, of our own times as we see them. The daily press affords one class 
of pictures of an epoch, Tlie recorded opinions and recollections of the ac- 
tors of a given period help to furnish another class of pictures of that period. 
Photographs of persons and scenes and episodes, etc., constitute another 
clasi of exact pictures, that may bave great value in after years. 



10 



During the post year, as is shown by the curalor'i report, we have pre- 
served nearly complete files of the four daily papers of this city aad of the 
San Francieco Evening Bulletin. Many other current local publicationa uf 
the year, of greater or lees value, have been received and filed : besides docn- 
ments received from eocietiea and contributors located elsewhere. I think 
our society wolild be doing good work which would be appreciated by our 
euccesBora, if it would make an efibrt to secure and preserve copies of photo- 
graphs of as many of the (present or past) residents of our section as poasibb. 
The modern art of photography may be made a. valuable aid to the annals Jf 
our times, which ancient history did not poasess. Doubtless there are mAiy 
families in Southern California which have extra copies of photos of their 
members, living or dead, that they would send to this society, if invied 
to do BO. 

The Buggeution has heretofore been made, and it ought to be cairied 
out, that our society should secure monographs from members or oti^erK, 
giving reliable infoimatiun as to the first introduction here, and aubse<^ent 
history, of railroads, telegraphs, banks, churches, schools, public and pri- 
vate, grape vines, citrus and deciduous fruita, and hundreds of other thing* 
that might be called land-marks in the progress of our civilisation. The CIul- 
tauquan method of making a special and separate study of each of these sub- 
jects, and then recording the substantialnet results of such studies and inves- 
tigations, might be adopted with good results by our society. Perhaps the an- 
vanced pupils of our normal and high schoolsand colleges might be stimulated 
to undertake the study of eome of these subjects, and furnish papers thereos 
to this society for preservation, or, whenever sufiGcienlly meritorous for pub- 
lication. At any rate a series of succinct and carefully written monographs 
of this character, would be of inestimable value to our society and to our 
posterity. 

It is to be hoped that we may secure from our older citizens, still living, 
further records of their recollections of the early times here in which th«y 
were actors. The sketches of our co-member, Mr. B. C. Foster, printed in 
the society's publication for 1887, were eiceedingly interestingand valuable. 

The reports of the secretary and treasurer and curator will furnish 
further information as to the present condition of the society, and of (b« 
work it has done during the past year. 



m 




Inaugural nddress of Peesident E. LU. Jones, Delivered 
FebPuary 4, 1889. 



TTT^BMBERS OF THE HiSiTOHICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — 

■^-^i Ladieb AND Gentlemen: Firat.let me take occaaion to thank the society 
for the honor which it has seen fit to confer upon me. It ie the custom. 
and perhfipB ft duly, for your prsHident on taking his seat to deliver such an 
addreaB ns he deems best for the welfare of the society. In confonnily to 
that custom, I have prepared and now aik your attention to the following 
brief remarks. 

This society was formed in the tatter part of 1883. At first it seemed 
to have promise of large membership. The idea had the approval of most, 
if not all, of the more iinportiiut of the founders and builders of the social 
and political fabric of Southern California, who still survived, but though 
many signified their approval, the active membership was always meager in 
numbers. In January, 18S4, the first inaugural address was delivered by 
Col. J. J. Wurner. In it he said "to collect and preserve historical matter 
is the main object of our mission." "Old land marks are rapidly disappear- 
ing; things which are now common in a few years will be rare and after a 
few years will ceiise to be," and so he goes on through a most suggestive dis- 
course advining the prosecution of historical research and collation. 

In all subsequent inaugual addresses the same idea is the prevailing one 
— that to history and that the history of this region, should our principal 
Bltention be paid, ('ur actual accomplishments in Ibis line have hardly been 
what they should be, but we have collected many valuable historical data iu 
both printed and written form. We have kept alive the society through a 
period meat unpropitious for its utsefuhieBs or evtuils enisleoce. The little 
band of tlie faitbiul, who recognized its importance, has held together for 
the most part, and my faith in its material is so great, my assurance of its 
devotion is so strong, that I predict that most of the few, who so sicadity 
attend our meetings, will live lo see the day when this society is establiabed 
in its own halls and equipped with a rich array of historical and scientific 
treasures. We have apparently lost the aid of some uf our members most 
capable in the line of historical informntion and research. I believe we 
suffered the l08t> of but one member, Capt. Stanley, by death. But we miss, 
perhaps more than any Other, the vigorous intellect and impreasive presence 
I'f the man who first presided over this body. We miss the historical asso- 
ciation that attend the name, thu weight and authority which accompany 
the discourse of Col. J. J. Warner, wli>» compelled by the bodily not mental 



12 



HiarOHtCAL BOCtBTT OF SOUTHEBII CUJVOBXU. 



infirmities, which accompany great age, to lay aside active duties, comt* 
DO more among ua. I tritat we may still avail ourselves of his services hy vis- 
iting him, and preserve macii of the store of knowledge of the history of Ihii 
region not yet on recunl by having it taken down at hie dictation. Otben 
ftlso we may hope to enlist in the work of the society as the lighter denikodf 
of business permit. Material has been accumulating in the bande of tbt 
curator all thene years until now we have a considerable mass. 

Our funds have always been so carefully handled lliat we are in a sound 
financial candilion. Our correspondence bas been conetautly increasing. 
We have verified and recorded the discovery of a tusk of large proportioni. 
The fragment found beiii^ six feet long and six inchesin diameter, in a well 
at a depth of 30 feet, eome SOmileseaet of this city ; of the skeleton of ft wlutle 
on the summit of the Santu Monica mountains; an interesting specimen of 
aboriginal cryptograph writing on the rocks of the ^an Gabriel canon <u>d 
the Mojave valley region. These are only some salient featurea o( out 
Bcientific work. I will not take time to go further into detaila. 

On the whole, the society has made as great progress as is usual in lb* 
beginningof such enterprises, and perhaps its progress may be regarded*! 
remarkable and indicative of its having struck its roots deep and into good 
soil, considering the nature of the limes through wbich it has survived 
Although it is not formed exclusively for work in the field of history, y«i 
such work is mainly its object and in that field have its most valuable resoln 
been accomplished. 

Not that it is well to discourage further labor in the domain of acieaiM 
that has already furui-lied us with interesting and instructive matter foi 
consideratiuii, and without it wc would hardly succed in inducing a widi 
spread interest in the work of the society. Without it some of our mo* 
valuable members would drop away and stagnation threaten us. 

From the realm of tlie sciences we expect to exact in the future a* in 
the past rich tribute, yet I repeat the most important Held of effort for ihW 
organization is to-day that of lix-'ul history. Our own and its tribulAiy 
region bos Urge historical resources which even the systematic and indefati- 
gable research of Bancroft and his able asHialants has failed to discover. 
Those machine made volumes of the Han Francisco historian, vast end 
varied as istheirscope,and minute and accurate hb their data may be. arvaliU 
very far short of exhibiting all the inner and mure vital facts and events in 
the life of the people of this region since their history began. The record o( 
these facts and evenla should be made by loving hands, aud the members ot 
this society, to moat of whom this land is permanently home, should largelj 
devote their efforts to the task. 

The brief history of Los Angeles county, compiled for the Centennial, 
reveals the wealth of event which this region has accumulated since the 
a'lvent of the white man, but it touches little more than salient points. The 
amount of suggestion which it affords to the searcher, however, is invalu- 
able. Day by day, too, the data which ought to be gathered and recorded in 
an enduring form — many of which, as bos already been said, now seem so 



r 
I 

I 




HISTOKICAI. BOCnTS OF SOUTBIKH OALOOSSIA. 



eommon place and trivial, bul which will hereafter be regt^rded ai gemti 
of price — are lieL-otnin^ deeper buried in the rubbish of tinieorloet altogether. 
The blending of rseea here is a tlieme of great si goificauce. It aeeing at 
Grat eight hs if the pioneer race, who brought the arts of civilization to these 
ahorea, ie being extinguished by the flood of immigration which baa pre- 
vailed for the 1»at few years, hut the blood of those itdventuroiia people, 
■Irong in body and mind, still coursing in the veini o( thousands among us, 
will not tail to tell powerfully upon the final homogeneous race which is to 
occupy this region. 

That race will he one whose origin will arrest the attention and excite 
the inquiry of people of science and culture. 

Descended from the Spaniard who conquered and civihzed the greater 
part of the new world, from the race of the Montezumas, whose palaces, 
temples and viaducts, whose inteihgence, bravery and patriotism challenged 
not only the admirntion of the invaders, but that of all brave peoples to this 
day — from the fearless and strong brained pioneers of Sanon, Gallic and 
Teutonic blood of the second i)uarter of the century; from the Argonauts of 
the •' days of gold " and from the educated and enterprising people from the 
Dorthern and southern States and across the Atlantic, who have been 
Ihronging to this region in late years, the final asfiimilation is likely to pro- 
duce something unique and admirable — something superior in the way of 
& people. The peculiarly favorable conditions under which existence is sus- 
tained here, add to the probability of such a result. 

The novelist who is also a historian — who finds the richest food for his 
fancy in the realm of fact — who makes a very large proportion of the beat 
history that is written, will lind i nex h a tis liable material (or hia weaving in 
this field which is generally deemed ao barren. The story of Ramona does 
not exhaust the treasures of romance which this land of sunshine and 
beauiy holds in store. It hut serves to guide some rays of light down into 
the depths where the gems still lie burietl in darkness. 

The poet, too, will show that this is uaturally the land of song, and will 
find here no lack of themes on which to plume the wing of his fancy. 

But for both, the plodding chronicler, the jotter down " of unconsidered 
trifles," the delver in folk and other lore, the recorder of the private and 
home history of the people, must furnish the staple tor the weaving. I dare 
to predict that this land where, it has been said lliat " it is always after- 
noon," this region of constant sunshine — where the mocking bird sings his 
sweet songs at midnight and where Nature's heart-beata in slumberous 
music are audible all night long to the atl«ntive ear, where ths life current 
in one's veins, escaping the languor of the oppressive tropics or the chill of ice 
and snow, courses with unchanged vigor all the year — this favored land will 
prove prolific in sous of song and story, and will become one of the centers 
of art and culture of the western continent. 

As for the work of the current year, I have made no attempt to map it 
out and confine it witliin rigid lines. The usual committees will, of course, 
be expectad to do whatever time and opportunity ofTers in their several 



14 



BlBTOBIOAI. BOOIBTY OF SODTHBRN CALtPDUIIA. 



fields, and it lies in the power of the eiiciety to appoint such new committees 
as its work requires; but with the subsidence of the swollen tide of specula- 
tion we may hope for some vnluftHle odditions lo our memtiersliip nnd better 
general resulta to our labors. It would l>e well to look up the people who 
are interested in historical, literary and scientific work and induce them to | 
co-openite with us. They would be more likely to do so now than at any ' 
other time in our history. 

We have reason for asking and expecting some endowments from the 
people of tltiH community in due season, and we ought, eventually at least, | 
to be provided by the city government with suitable quarters and a site for k i 
building which we hope finally to erect. 

If we take hold of the work with the enthusiasm which itf 
deserves, we shall entitle the society to the benefits it eipecls. A little 
warmth of heart in our efforts will work wonders for us. There is no ques- 
tion but a little atagnaiion had liegun to be felt. 

Our fields have lieen invaded by pot-huntera — historical searchers and I 
gatherers of relics and documents — for the money that can be made out of | 
them. We should not wail till all these treasures have been captured by ■ 
the invaders. I ask of the meml)ers hearty and harmonious co-operation in 
this and all other of the society's fields of labor for the coming year. 




I 



A lietter of Sebastian VisQaino. 

[A tranaUtion oF a phnlo- lithograph of the original on file at Madrid, 
inaile>for Adolph Stitro, Eaq., and presented to llie society by Rev. J. Adam, 
January 7, 1889.1 



JUHIS ie this the letter which General Sebastian Viecaino sent from the 
-*- harbor of Monterey, where his vessels lay at anchor for aeveral days. 
In this letter he Huys tlial two vessels were furnislied for the expedition, but 
in point of fact lie had three when he left Acapulro, and entered Monterey 
bay with that iiiimber. One of these he dispatched for Acapiilcu for the 
purpose of reporting progress, and continued on his voyage after n rest of 
eighteen daj's in port. He arrived at Monterey bay on the ICth of Decem- 
ber, 1602 ; and this letter bears date the 28th of that month. On sailing to 
the northward the flag-ship reached a point somewhere beyond tlie bay o[ 
Sftn Francisco. The vessels parted company aud the smaller one, sailing 
northward still, went as far, probably, as the Columbia river. Owing to stress 
of weather the flng-ship put back and went into port for repairs and to 
await the return of her consort. In his subsequent report to the Viceroy 
of New Spain, Don Oaspar de Ztiniga, Conde de Monterey, jn whose honor 
Viscaino named the bay, the latter says he put into the port of Francisco. 
Hence it is supposed by many persons that he sailed through the Golden 
Gale. In my opinion, it ie more than probable that he sought shelter in Sir 
Franeis Drake's bay, or Bodega bay. Had he discovered the great harbor, 
Viscaino, who describes so enthusiastically the harbor of San Diego, and 
even Monterey bay, assuredly would have mentioned it with all due praiae. 
Moreover, one of the objects of Viscaiao's search being the strait of Anian, 
then and for long years afterwards believed to coi.nect the waters of the 
two great oceans, had he entered the bay of San Francisco he would have 
explored it thoroughly and would have ascended one of the two rivers 
emptying into it, if not both of them, unlil the cessation of tidal influence 
bod convinced him that they were not arms of the sea. 1 think that the 
General, deceived by the trend of the const in the immediate neighborhood 
of the Golden Gate, which at the time he sailed by it was, quite probably, 
concealed in a fog bank, or frightened, perhaps, by a near approach in bad 
weai.ier to the Farallones, weut on bis way not even dreaming of the exis- 
tence of San Francisco bay — just as, a few years before that time, Francis 
Drake went by luiknowing. In his booty-laden ship Drake had no stomach 
for his usual pastime of a tight against odds, Eor at home in England was 
not Elizabeth awititing greedily her share of the spoils of the subjects of 



16 HISTORICAL BOCIBTY OF SOdTHBRN 

A king with whom she wu ostensibly at pekceT Fearing to attempt th« 
homeward passage around Cape Horn, where, probably, his enemies lay in 
wait against his return, Sir Francis sailed northward in search of that 
iame alrait of Anian. Had Drake entered tlie bay of San Fr.tncisco c 
be doubted that he would have examined it thoroughly, and that he would 
have ascended one or both of the two rivers? I do not think there c 
any doubt on the subject. The last great viking careened hid ship where 
afterward Viscaino'a ship lay awaiting the 
Bodega bay or that which to-day bears the rover's name. There he saw the 
animals like conieB,of which hia merry chaplain — in those brave days of old 
Englishman as well as Spaniard put on the cloak of relij{ion when he 
became a murderer and a thief — has left us an account, and there, i 
name of hia royal mistress and co-partner in piracy, he took possession of 
"New Albion" with a delightfully cool and utterly English disregard of 
others' rights — which, moreover, did not die out when Sir Francis Drake 
found his grave under the waters of the Caribbean, Not tinding the sought- 
for strait, and just then preferring ingots of gold and pieces of eight to fight- 
ing, the freebooter took the only alternative left to him and, boldly launch- 
ing westward, completed a voyage around the world. 

Viscaino's letter is addressed, if I remember aright — for I have not the 
authorities by me^to the regent of Spain. The spelling of the letter ia not 
more peculiar than that of almost all the Spanish MSS. of the 16th century 
— for in 1602 the General was somewhat advanced in years, and had learned 
his rudiments long before then. It has always seemed strange to me thai 
bad spelling could occur in writing Spanish, a language in which every let- 
ter is pronounced and always has the same sound, but eur General waa not 
a man of letters, and misplaces his "c," and his "s,"and hi8"z," impar- 
tially ; while, as to his " h," he uses it after the manner of a cockney. To b« 
sure, the sound of that letter in Spanish is a mere breathing, less than the 
aspirate of the Greeks, a mer« suspicion of sound. Viscaino was a bluff 
sailor, who loved not clerklsh ways ; he did not even take the trouble to read 
what he had written, for not infrequently he has omitted a necessary word 
or two, and once has repeated hid words. All Spanish writing of Viscaino'a 
time is full of words abbreviated in the most extraordinary manner, and the 
abbreviations, even of the same writer in the same MS., are rarely twice 
alike. One of these astonishing chirographic "toursde-force" is noticeable in 
the veritable anagram with which the lost line of the letter ends. And those 
rare old penmen bad a pleasing way of writing two, or three, or six of these 
contorted words as though they all made one single uord. Nor is there ftnv 
attempt at punctuation in this letter. Comparatively speaking, it is easy to 
decipher the handwriting of Viaciano, but some Spanish HSS. of the period 
involve a great deal of study in the reading thereof. On the whole. I h«ve 
thought it better to prefix to the translation of the letter a paraphrase, as 
literally as can be gramatically written, for the use of those not having time 
or patience to master the original. 

A word, in conoliuion, about Viscntno's ships. I can not indicate in 



HI3T0EICAL BOCIBTY OF BOUTHBRN CiUFORNIA. 17 

tingle EDgliah words ]uat what they were. The larger of the two was a 
barcoluengo," or-'barcoloogo," a vessel having aflush-dcck, only one mast, 
knd a very round prow — probably behaving very hadly in going about in a 
tiead eea or in workTng to windward. The ■' landm " was smaller and had 
DUt one mast, while sweeps aided in the propulsion of the vessel, wliich was 
I tender to the flag'ship, and very useful in the expioralion of shoal watera 
uid narrow passages. 

THE LETTBB. 

Ya Vuestra Alteza hahrii tenido noticia como el conde de Monterey, 
Vircy de la Nueva Espnfia, en conFormidad de las /irdenes que dc Su Mag- 
astad tiene, me encargA el descubrimiento de los puertos i pMisen dela costa 
ie la mar del aur, desde el puerto de Acajiulco al cabo Mendocino, dandome 
para ello dos navlos — una lancltn i un hare ol on go— con gente de mar i 
{uerra, armns i muniuiones, ton baetinicntoa paraouce meses; que, en con- 
formidad de las 6rdenes que para ello me did, sail de Acapulco it cinco de 
Hayo del ai\o; que he venido haciendo el dicho descubrimiento, aunque con 
mucha dificuUad i trabnjo por no ser sabido la navegacion i babieiido siem- 
pre los vientoB contrarios, mal ayudadu de dios i del buen deseo que siempre 
loe vientos contrarios, mal nyudado de ilios i del buen deseo que siempre he 
tenido de servir li Su Mageatajl. He descuhierto muchos puertoe, baldas ^ 
islas hasta el puerlo de Monterey, puerU) en altura de treinta i aiete grados, 
demarcando todo i eondando, con sii <lerr(ilero como lo pide el art« de la 
mar, sin dejar cosa sustancial que de ello i de lo qne mueslra promeler la 
tierra i la mucha gente que ei> ella hay. Eavio copia al dicho conde para 
<)ue la envie A 8u Magestad i il Vuestra Alteza. Lo que en este puerlo de 
Monterey — demas de estar en tan buena altura para lo quo Su Magestad 
pretende para amparo i seguridad de los naos que vienen de Filrpinas, en el 
pueden redimir la nccesidod que trujeren, porque tiene gran suma de 
piuales para Arboles i entenas, aunque sea navfo de mil toneladas, encinos i 
robles muy grandes para [abricar navtoe, i esto junto A. la marina aguadela 
(sic) en cantidad, I el pocrto es muy seguro de todus los vientos. La 
tierra esti'i toda poblada de Indioe i es muy f^rtil i es del temple i terrufio 
de Castilla, i se darii en ellacualquiersemillaqueee sembrara. Haygrandea 
dehesas i muchoa g^oeroa de animales i avee— como en la dicha relacion 
ae con tiene. 

Yo aviso (i Su Mageslad del grander de eete reyno, i lo gran poblado 
CBlii, i lo mucho que promete, i lo que los Indios me ban daijo il entender 
hay en la tierra adentro de poblaciones, i como la gente es mansa i afahle 
que con facilidad enliendo recibiran el santo evangelio i se reduciran & la 
corona real — i pues 8n Magestad es aef.or i duefio de todo, que provee ea 
ello lo que masconvenga; que loque fuere de mi parte le serving con fidelidad 

Respecto de haberme detenido mas tiempo del que se entendii^ para 
bacer este descubrimiento: For las dlticultades que tengo dichas se roe ha 
gftstado la mayor parte de los bastimentos i municiones que se me caeron, 
i con el mucho trabajo que la gente ha tenido ha enfermado alguna cantidad 



IS HIHTOfilCAL SOCIETY' OF SOtlTHERN CALIFORHU. 

i nauerlOBe algunoB ; Je manera que, para hacer el dicho descubrimienlo 
una vez, asf del eabo Mendocino como de la easenada de Califomiaa, que 
la ^<rden que traigo — ee me ofreciiJ diliciiUaO pam poder de ello haoer 
aio mucho socorro de bastiraentos, gente i municiones, i aa( deepacho pi 
ello. Que al almirantede aviso el diclio conde, pidiendole lo n^cesario 
adverliendole eo que parage i d que liempo me lo ha de enviar, con la rB|«i 
acion, denmrcaciou i derroteros, i todo lo que he heeho au el dicho desciiC^J 
rimiento liastu hoy, para que la euvfe Vuestra Alieza nieloenviare. Espetv 
en dioa de hacer un gran Ber\-icio d 8u Magestad i llevar^ deecubierto 
grandea reynoe i riqueza. De lodo lo que ee Fuere haciendoen lasocftsiones 
que BG olrecieren aviaar^ de ello A Vueslra Alteza con verdad i Rdelidsd. 
Gimrde nueetro Beuor & Vueslra Alteza, como el criatiaD ha menester, i yo 
»0f criado de Vueelra Alte/.a. 

Puerto de Monterey, d 28 de Diciembre de 1602. 

(SigDed) Sebastias ViscArao. 

(flourish) 

[Translation of the above— which I have made as literal as possible, bnt 
always endeavoring to retain the manly, straiEht forward style of the 
original.] 

Your Highness will have bad notice already of how the Count of 
Monterey, Viceroy of New Spain,* in conformity with the orders which b« 
has from His Majesty, charged me with the exploration of the harbors and 
countries of the coast of the soutli sea from the port of Aeapulco to Cape 
Mendocino, giving me tor that purpose two vessels, a laneha and a barco- 
longo, together with seamen and soldiers, arms and ammunition, and pro- 
visions for eleven mouths ; that, in accordance with the orders given to me 
for that end, I sailed from Acnpulco on the 5lh day of May of this year; 
that I have prosecuted said exploration, although with great difficulty and 
labor, because the navigation was unknown and head-winds were constant, 
while the aid of providence and the good desire I have ever felt for serving 
Hie Majesty availed me little. I have discovered m:iny ports, bays and 
' islands, as far as the port of Monterey, a pon' which is in thirty-seven 
degrees of latitude, surveying all and sounding and noting the sailing 
directions, according to the art of navigation, without neglecting any eub- 
Blantial thing concerning the same, and what the land and the numerous 
peoples dwelling therein seemingly promise. I send a copy to the said 
Count, in order that lie may transmit the information to His Majesty and 
Your Highness.t As to what this port of Monterey is, in oildilion to being 
so well situated in point of latitude, for that which His Majesty intends lo 

* New Sjitia WBi tbe rlcero^ty of whicb tbe cltj ol Uexlco wu c&pitiil, and lni>1iulni thn 
WirltoiT to thf northwaid of the Tinaroyalty wUcii ultlmauly bec«ne tl 
Between Ihew two vicero;r«ltle> dljpulHi nbonl JuriidlPtlon ove- ■■-- "- -■*---' 
uid frequent These diipulcB becimc imtlonal h'-' - 




HISTORICAL BOOmr OF SOITTHBRR CAUFOKKIA. 



do for the protection and Becurity of sliips coming from the Pliillipines.* In 
it tliej' may repair the damages vrhich they may have sustained, fnr there is 
a great extent of pi no forest from which to obtain mastB and yard k, even 
though the vessel be of a thousand tons burthen, live oakef and white oaks 
for »ihip-building, and this close to the seasidejl in great quanlilies. And the 
harbor ia very secure against all winds. The land is thickly peopled by 
Indians and is very fertile, in its climate and the quality of the soil resem- 
blitig Castile, and any seed sown there will give fruit. There are extensive 
lands fit for pasturage, and many kinds of beasts and birds — as is set forth 
in the report referred to. 

1 call his Majeety's attention to the great extent of this land and its 
numerous population, and what proraiseit holds forth, and what the Indianii 
liave given me to understand concerning the population of the inlerior.aml 
how gentle and affable the people is, so that they will receive readily the 
holy gospel and will come into subjection to the royal crown; and, since His 
Majesty is lord and rooster of all, let him pruvide as may seem best to him. 
A3 to what it behooves me to do on my part, I will serve him till death. 

With regard to my having delayed longer than the time which was 
thought necessary for this exploration ; Because of the many difficulties of 
which I have fl|>oken, the greater part nf the proviaions and ammunition 
which were turniahed to me has been expended; while, owing to the great 
labors which my crews have gone through, a number of the men have fallen 
ill and some have died ; so that for making farther exploration at once, as 
well of the region of Cape Mendocino as of the entire littoralU of the Califor- 
niaa, as is called for by my orders, I have met with obstacles lo the comple- 
tion of the work without considerable succor in the way of provisions, 
people and ammunition, and speedy dispatch of these. Lei the Admiral he 
advised by the said Count of this, he asking him for what is necessary, and 
letting him know to what place and at what time he must dispatch these 
things to me, sending to him also the map, report ami sailing directions 
concerning all that I have done in said exploration to tlie present time, so 
that Your Highness may order that the same may be seat to me. I trust in 



veuel pljing belveeu Acapulf^o uid UaiiIIil. I 



e ship ■ year between tbu AmerlcBD and tbe Aslam Indies o( Spain, the 



e puMriEe Irom the li 



» 



bctOM Ule dme of tha voyue 1 

■ lilUe lo the nortliirsKl oi San FranclKO. 
jMOther of ttaene pi 
tipuilardi bi nne i 
AtooDstlte 



.ocordlns li. .. 
lumu u ■», conveyed ■ 
ilandi, wDere they wom 



all Epanln] 



II Vlacaino'o word! an: "La macinaaguadela." There Udo woid " 
laoijuagu. "Aauiduiv " ia a depnilt oI »aler. There !■ a lendenc)' in 
Spaia to lntereh»ugBihB "1 " and the "r""— ]uil as there 1» alao amonit 
ClilneM mwakinB EagUih imd atnoDK Sandwich Iilanden tulae Ibcir c 
tnaaguadela" VlKaTno may have meant lo lay, liUcally. " the mad 
hare thodsht It u well lo lendei the pbrue t>y our woid "lea-iide.' 

TThe word Id the loit la " enseoada," and our word having the « 
Srlilenlly the word can not be lltetallj ttaniilated here, and. to eipi 
oout Iruu Cape San Lucaa lo Cape HeDOocluo. t lelecl the word 1 me. 



'Ived and Intermarried 



:uiid>!l*"In thoepanisb 
liu provlnrloDallimB of 
!ir uu'u child nn, among 

1 wateiing-placa," but I 

ic meenlng li"blghl.- 



IQ HIST0RrC4L SOCIETY OF 60UTHERN CAUFOBHIA. 

Ood that I may render a great service to Hie Majesty and that I mar du- I 
cover great kiogdome and riches. Of all that may be done I shall advin J 
Your Highness, as opportunity may serve, with truth and faithfully. HafJ 
our Lord guide Your Highness — which is a ward so necessary to the Chrii 
ian* and I remain the servant of Your Highness. 
Port of Monterey. 28th Decemher, 1C02. 

[Signed]: SEBASTIAN VlSCAlSO. 

(flourish) 
Translated by me at Los Angeles, this 7th day of February, 1889 — llitt 
paraphriiBe of the original, and the historical introduction and notee alavfl 
being by me. 

Geo. Butler Gsiffdi. 



wetB lo aaj positible reullaK ol the orifiinBl, wheUii 
hUtoryot3D«ln, by tl - "' " ...... 



beun dropped: otlierB'tM ibeBentence Iinii^li u ooP|iauI*i 



.,.— MWd forlhe «overelgii doci n.^r 

— — _, , — minority or lne«p»citT ol Ihat ajYereign 

the Emperor mnd ol PUllp II , Spiln wh not InlrequeoUv dtnetly iiut , 
moaarcti bvlDRabwnL Both Obuleauin hU lou wm foDdof putting i:,- 
or femkle relntivei. The (inecn ol HUUEUT reprcKOted CbViM niijlil 
■liter, the Ducbeu of Pinn*. u regent for the Low Coantriei, iru nor au 
tiEniKlt. 




H Historieal Sketch of the movement for ei Political Sep- 
aration of the tuio Califofnlas, fJorthePn and 
Southefn, under both the Spanish and 
flmeriean Regimes. 



(Rod FtibraLry i. ISSa.J 

ynHE tendency to a separation of California into two diatinct political 
dinaioos ia not new. Itdateebackintotheuld Mexican era of the Pacific 
Coaet. During the Mexican regime, in the years before the country came 
under the American flag, the contest for supremacy between Nortliern and 
Southern California rarely ceaaed, varying in intensity and bitternesa witli 
the varying exigencies and fortunes of the various administrations of the 
colonial government. 

The iaat capitol of the two Californias before the Arnerican occupation, 
was Los Angeles. The diacovery of gold in the northern sierra, which came 
almost with the date of the American occupation, and the sudden ruah of 
populalion lo the mines, gave to Northern California an advantage in the 
struggle which long continued tlirough the start thus given, and through 
the superior facilities offered by San Francisco harbor as a commercial 
point. 

The southern portion of this territory, however, at the time of the ad- 
mission of California into the Union aa a state in 1850, went into the civil 
compact reluctantly, and only because the isolation of the new people upon 
a distant coast, and the pussibililies of foreign dangers rendered an intimate 
union of the whole coast for the time being, desirable for purposes of com- 
mon defense. Southern Caiifornja was, however, restive under the newer 
order of things, feeling that its beat development could only come with the 
stimulus and freedom of a separate political life. Animated by this feeling, 
a movement for the diviaion of the state was made ten years later. In 1859 
an act was passetl by the state legislature entitled " An act granting the con- 
sent of the legislature to the formation of a different government for the 
southern counties of this state." The line of division, as specified in the 
act, embraced the counties of Ban Luie Obispo, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, 
San Diego, San Bernardino and a portion of Buena Vista. The act, by 
order of the Legislature, was put to vote by the people of the counties in 
question ; it was carried by an overwhelming vote. The returns, together 
with the act, were certified lo by Governor Latham, and forwarded by him 
officially lo the United States govemmeul at Washington. The intense 



23 lilBTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CiUFOENIA. 

iiB.tiDnRl excilement over tlie quesliona which led to the civil war delayed 
action, and with the breakiDg out of hostilities further action lor tlie cooi 
pinion of the diviaion wne postponed. la the turmoil of war, and in thi 
settleraeDt of great national qiieatioas which agitated the country in thi 
years that followed, the aiibject of further action in the matter reniaioed ii 
abeyance. Occasiooa'. allusions in the public print showed, however, that it 
was only slumbering. In 1S80 Governor J. G. Downey republished, < 
own signature, in the Loa Angeles Evening Express of May 8th, the original 
act, together with a, statement that he believed the act to remain valid 
despite the lapse of years, and that only the consent of Congress wi 
to make the action tinal. 

In the February number of the Califoraian, 1881, a monthly periodical 
printed in ban Francisco, now the Overland Monthly, I published an arUclx , 
upon the division of the state, in which I discussed at length the geogntfbr 
ical, topographical, climatic and commercial laws which lie back of i 
which produce this tendency to a separation, and stated that the OAtUtal 
working of these laws would in the end lead to a separation of the stftte into 
two distinct civil organizations, and that while it might be delayed, Ibia 
division of the state was in the end inevitable. The publication 
article brought down upon the head of the writer u storm of personal abase 
and vituperation from the papers of Northern California, notably from thoM 
of San Francisco, which was new to the discussion. It might reasonably be 
inferred, frcsu the storm which it raised, that the reasons given in the article 
had in them somewhat of truth, and that the force of the article was felt, u 
men do not ordinarily devot« so much energy to refute what they deem idle 
fallacies. 

Several weeks later, at a citiisens' mass meeting held in Loa Angeles. 
February 1, 1881, upon the subject of Wilmington harbor improvement, 
in the course of a speech upon that topic. I proposed that the subject of 
state division should also be taken up. The suggestion was at once acted 
upon, and afler a number of speeches from various gentlameti stronglj 
favoring the movement, an executive committee, consisting of Messrs.B.P. 
.Spence, J. P. Widney, J. G. Downey, A. B. Moffitt, J. G. Esludillo and \ 
Percy, were selected to take charge of the work. 

This executive coiuniittee selected a legal committee to which tbej', 
referred the following <|UesiioDS in order tlkat the legal status of the tnovsi- 
ment might be made clear. 

First. Is the legislative act of 1859, as voted upon hy the people, had T 
forwarded to Congress, with the certificate of the governor of California,. 1^ 
still in force? 

Second, If that act is still in force, what legal steps are neceasaj^ I 
complete the division, and establish the new state of Southern CaliforoiaT 

Third. If that act is no longer in force, what other course will beconM M 
necessary to efl'ecl a division? 

The answer was as follows: 




HIBTORIOAI, BOCISTlf OV HOUTRKRN CALIFOIUTU. 23 

First. The act of the legislature ot the State of California entitled "An 
act granting the consent of the legislature to the formation of a different 
government for the southern counties ot this state," approved April 18th, 
1659, page 310, is in full force and effect. 

Second. Under article IV, section 3, of the constitution of the UniMd 
States, it only remains for Congress to admit the new state with a republi- 
can form of government. 

Third. To secure this last action no legal forms are required. 

Fourth. The mode most nearly conforming to precedent would be to 
secure the united action of a representation from each of the counties in the 
proposed new state, calling an election to elect delegates to a constitutional 
convention to be held at some designated time and place. Huch a conatitn- 
tional convention would then prepare a form of constitution for the new 
state and submit the same to a vote ot the people, and upon its adoption 
and presentation to Congress, and the act of Congress admitting the new 
state, the work would be complete. 

Fifth, The election should be held as nearly as possible in accordance 
with the forms of our present election laws. 

(Signed :) Thom & Stkphehs. 



H. T. Hazabd. 
C. E. Thom. 

E. M. WiDNEY. 

A. Bhunsox. 

B. 0. Hefbbell. 
Qeokge H. Smith. 
H. A. Barclay. 



A circular letter was thereupon sent hj the executive committee to the 
Democratic and Republican county committees of San Diego, San Hernar- 
dino, Los Angeles, Ventura. Santa Barbara San Luis Obispo, Kern and 
Inyo, requesting the appointment of delegates to a convention to be held in 
Lob Angeles, September 8, 1881, to consider the advisability of taking 
further action in the matter. 

The convention met, many of the delegates being present, and the 
questioQ was thoroughly discussed. The prevailing sentiment was that the 
division of the state was a necessity ; that only by the establishment of a sepa- 
rate state could the full development and growth ot Southern California be 
hrought about; but the feeling seemed to be that the time had as yet hardly 
arrived to take the step. With this understanding, and with the further 
understanding that when a favorable time should occur a united movement 
would be made to the accomplishment ot that end, the convention ad- 
journed. 

From this time on the subject never remained quiescent, but became a 
topic of constant discussion, in the public press, and among the people. 

Early in the present sesBsion of Congress (1888-9) General William Van- 



I 



24 HISTORICAL BOCISrr OF BOUTHEBK CAUyOBInA. 

(lever, representative ia Congress for this district, introduced a bill in the 
HouBe providing tor the taking of steps anew for the division of the slate. 
That bill ie now on file awaiting its turn for consideration in the order ol 



A few days afterward, a public meeting was called in the city of L>u 
Angeles to take up the work. At that meeting a committe was appoint^ 
to elect an executive committee to take charge of the movement. Thai 
committe has not yet made public its action. 





History of the movements fof the Division of lios 
Angeles County. 

BY PBOFE9S0B J. II. OUINN, 
IBesd Fu-Uniary 1. ISW.l 

TXlaTORIANS, generally speaking, are not partial to failures. Tlie move- 
'^6 inent be what ic may that failx, fills but a email space in history, and 
the nclors in it are uaually relegated to oblivion, or if commemorated, it ia 
by the briefeat of notices. 

The movement to divide Die county of Lob Angeles and create a new 
county out of the southeastern portion, forms no exception to this rule. It 
is one of the unwritten chapters of our local history. It began twenty years 
aito and almost succeeded, yet there exiots no written record of it except, 
perhaps, a few brief paragraphs in the legislative proceedings — session of 
1869-70. 

The moat active movers in the scheme are dead and almost forgotten. 
Success might have given them fame, at least it would have given their 
names a place in the annals of our county. The success of their scheme 
would have wrought a great change in the history of our county for the two 
decades past, but whetlier for bett«r or worse your historian will not attempt 
to decide. 

To the late Uajor Max Strobel of Analieim, belongs the credit (or 
odium) of inaugurating the movement. Whether his fertile brain originated 
it, I know not. He was its most earnest advocate and a most active worker 
for its success. 

Twenty years ago tlierc were numerous reasons for a division that do 
I not exist to^lay. A trip to the county seat and return required two days, 
and from tlie more distant parts of the area included in the proposed 
I county, four days travel over hot and dusty roads in tlie summer time 
[ —through mud and mire in the winter time. Dridges there were none, and 
[ often during the rainy season, the rivers swollen to raging torrents, cut ofT 
I k11 communication with the metropolis for weeks at a time. A lumbering 
told stage coach three limes a week carried the mail, and at the compenaa- 
I tiou of ten cents a mile hanged and battered the unfortunate passenger on- 
■ irard to his destination at the reckless speed of five miles an hour. Six dol- 
I lus in coin of the realm was the faro from Anaheim to Los Angeles and 
I return. One dollar and live cents is all that a soulless corporation exacts 
I from you now. There were other and more grevious causes of complaint. 
LThe denizens of Los Angeles city monopolized all the county oflicea. The 
B^vellera in the bucolic districts were taxed without representation, and this 



26 HIBTORICAL SOCIETY OF BOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

was too grevioiis to be borne without protest; for, had notour revolutionary 
fathers fought, bled and died for oftice? 

These am! other grievaocea were eet forth as caueeB for division, u>4 
petitions were circulaieil aud nunierouBly signed b; the deuixens dw«Ilii>C, 
within the limits of the proposed new county. 

A bill creating the county of Anaheim and making the town of Ana- 
heim itH county sedt was drawn up. The dividing line between the old and 
the new county began at a point in the Pacific ocean three nautical tnilH 
southwest ward from the mouth of ihe old Ban Gabriel river, thence rumuflg 
northeasterly, following ihe channel of that river to an inleraeclion with 
the San Bernardino base line, thence east on that line to tb'' division line 
between the counties o[ San Bernardino and Los Angeles. Tlie new county 
included within its limits the Los Nietos, San Jos^ and Santa Ana valleys, 
the richest and £t that time the most populous valleys of Los Angelw 
county, Strohel had enliiited in his scheme the active co-operation of ao'i • 
of the weallhiest pioneerH of the county. William Workman of Puent«, 
Temple, Bubottom, Fryer, Don Juan Fnsler, Ben Dryfus and others (avowd 
his scheme. Armed wiih numerous petitions and abundantly supplied with 
coiu. Strobe! appeared in Sacramento at the opening of the legislatttre. 
Early in the scssaion his bill passed the Assembly with but little oppoeiiion. 
The hopes of the divisionists beat high. Anaheim became a political M^oca 
for ofnce-seeking pilgrims. Stalesmen of Loa Nietos and place hunters from 
San Juan counselled with the patriots of Anaheim and parcelled out tlie 
prospective offices among them. 

Then came a long delay. Strohel was hopeful, but opposition had 
shown iiself. Gold would win, and gold he must have ur all would b« lost. 
The envious and uncharitable said that Strobel had been lighting the tiger 
in the jungles of Sacramento, and that the tiger had had the best of it. But 
the faithful gathered together their hardearned shekels and the proceeds of 
many a gallon of wine, the price of mauy a brofcho and many a bullock, 
were Bent to Strobel that he might convince the honest legislators of the 
richness and resources of the new county. Another long delay — the w«it> 
ing statesmen on the banks of the Santa Ana grew wild-eyed and haggard— 
hope deferred wa« wearing them to a shadow. One day in the id?B of Uarch 
ilu' lumbering old slsge coach, with its tri-weeklv mail, rolled into the em- 
lir\>> ciipital of the new county. The statesmen giilhered around eager for 
the laiest from Sacramento. It came in a letter from Strohel. The bill had 
bepn defeated in the Senate, but he was working for a reconsideration uid 
would be sure ol success if more money could be sent him. By the defeat 
o( that bill the county lost a largo crop of statesmen — nipped in tlie bud. 
To Strobel's last appeal even ilie moat faithful were dumb. A few weeks 
later the old coach brought Strohel himself. He told ihe story of his defeat 
in pathetic tones. R.iilroad machinations and a corruption fund freely 
used by that soulless corporation had defeated his measure. A rumor, true 
or false I know not, attributed his failure to a different cause. Strobol, 



BISTOSICAJ. SOCIHTT OF 

finding opposition to his measure increasing, and liis coin decreasing, had 
determined upon a grand "coup d'etat." The legislature of '99 was one of 
thoee known in the history of the state aa tlie " legislature of a thousand 
drinks." 

Strobel's scheme was to give a champagne supper the night before a 
vote wsfl to be taken on his bill, to which the memliers of the Senate, and 
particularly those known to be opposed to his bill, were lo be invited. At 
that feast of reason and flow of aoul he would give special attention to the 
opponents and drink them under the table. Then on the morrow, whilst 
they calmly slept beneath the banquet table, he would rally his friends and 
the bill would be passed. 

Strobel prided himself on his bacchanalian ochievementB, and doubt- 
less he could have drunk Bacchus himself under the table, and have staggered 
Thor or a Jotund of the Norseland in a drinking bout, but he had never be- 
fore matched himself against an old time bourbon California Legislature. 

When the morning sun looked in on that banquet hall, Strobel quietly 
slept beneath the table, but the legislators had gone to their favorite paloons 
to eeek their matutinal glass of whisky straight. When the all-important 
moment arrived the general was not there to rally his forces. The bill was 
defeated by a small majority. 

Major Max Strobel, who figured quite prominently in what might be 
called the mediieval history of our county, deserves more than a passing 
notice. A soldier of fortune and a Machiavel in politics, he was always on 
the losing side. A man of versatile genius and varied resources, a lawyer, 
an editor, an engineer, an accomplished linguist and a man of education, 
his exchequer was always in a slate of collapse and the brightest efforts of 
his genius were wasted in staving ufF his creditors. He was a German by 
birth and reputed to be of aristocratic lineage. Me was a compatriot of 
Carl Schurtz and Sigel in the German revolution of '48, and on the failure of 
that movement, with Sigel hia intimate friend, fled to this country. He 
drifted down to Nicaragua and filibustered with Walker. He finally located 
in Anaheim where he bought a vineyard and engaged in wiue making. 

But the lite of a vioeyardist was too narrow and contracted for his 
genius, aud lie was constantly branching out into new projects. He was 
one of the pioneer prospectors lor oil in this county. He sunk a great hole 
in Brea cailon where, it he did not strike oil, he did strike the bottom of 
the purses of those whom he enlisted in hia scheme. 

After his failure to divide the county he started a newspaper in Ana- 
heim. It was lo be the organ of county division. It succeded in dividing 
the diviaionialB into two factions — the Strobel and the anti-Strobel — who 
waged war against each other through the columns of their respective or- 
gans, the Advocate and the GazetU'. Strobel's organ, the People's Advo- 
cate, starved to death for want of patronage and was buried in the grave of 
journalistic failures. How transitory is fame ! The mighty questions that 
perturbed the quiet of Anaheim in those days are forgotten. I doubt whether 



BIBTOBICAL flOCIBn' OF SOtTl 



there is e. ci\Aiea of that town to-day who could give you tlie najne of 
Btrobel'a organ, and it is doubtful whether there ie a copy of it in ejcistcnce. 

Strobel'a next venture and hia last, waa the sale of Santa Catalina 
Island to European capitaliste. tjuppUed with funds by the owners, and 
a number of rich mineral epecimens from some source, he sailed fur Eng- 
land and located in London. He succeeded in convincing a syndicate of 
English capitalists of the ineihauslible mineral wealth of the island, and 
negotiated a sale for a millioa dollars. A contract waa drawn up and ai 
hour set tor the neit day, when the parties were to sign and the money t 
be paid. 

When the hour arrived for closing the transaction, Strobet did not a|: 
pear. Search was made for him. Ue was found in hia room dead — dead od 
the very eve of success, for the sale of the island would have made him 
wealthy. " Unmerciful disaster followed him fast and followed him (aater," 
to the verge of the grave. Negolialious for the island were broken off by the 
death of Btrobel. Nearly twenty years after, the island was sold for leM 
ihau one quarter of what he was to receive for it. 

Alter the deatli of Strobe) tbe management of the county diviaoa 
scheme fell into the hands of a committee. The name wai changed from 
the county of Anaheim to the county of Orange, and the eastern boundary 
contracted so as to leave out the San Josg valley — the people of that valley 
electing to remain in the old county, A bill creating the county of Orange 
was introduced in the legislature of 1871-72, but never reached a vote. 
1873 the division question drifted into politics. A county division conv 
tion was held in Anaheim, and a man by the name of Bush, (roa 
Sanla Ana, was nominated for the legislature. 

The pohey of the divisionista was to force one or the fther of the politi- 
cal parties to place Bush on their ticket to secure the division vote. In their 
conventions, neither the Democratic nor the Republican parlies took any 
notice of Bush's candidacy. Ignored by both parties, be took the stump 
and made a county division campaign on the one issue that lie waa tbe 
only honest man before the people. He received a few votes, and then 
this Diogenes wander — an honest man — passed out of the political arens 
forever. 

In the next legislature, Wiseman, nicknamed the "Broad axe," from 
the vigorous manner in ?hicb he hewed to pieces the Queen's English, ap- 
peared as the champion of county division. Neither his pathetic appealslor 
the oppressed people of Orange nor his superlative denunciations of iheir 
oppressors, convinced the lawmakers at Sacramento that the people were 
suffering for the want of a new county. 

Another change in boundaries and name. A bill to create the county 
of Santa Ana, and to make Anaheim the county seat, was drafted. Th« 
name was a concession to Santa Ana, a concession, however, that failed tO' 
conciliate. Santa Ana, Orange and Tustin opposed the scheme, and t 
missionaries sent from Anaheim to convert them met a cold reception, m. 




HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 29 

their arguments for county division were turned to ridicule. Santa Ana 
wanted the county seat and would not be comforted without it. Jealousies 
and bickerings, local prejudices and local ambitions defeated the measure. 
The question of division for a time fell into innocuous desuetude, Anaheim 
making her last effort in 1880. Santa Ana now appears as the champion of 
the scheme she formerly opposed. The boundaries of the new county have 
been so contracted as to leave her hated rival, Anaheim, only three miles 
from its northern boundary. Anaheim now as vigorously opposes as she 
once advocated the measure. 




The U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey niagnetic Observ- 
atory at Uos Angeles, California. 



BY FBOFEBSOR R. E. HALTEK. 

uliltDt U. B. Coast and Geodetic Snirey. 



[Rctd Kovember 12. 1S»I.| 

JFRADITION tells UB the mftgentic needle was known to the Chineee U 
-*■ early aa the year 2,600 B. C, and from well authenticated information 
we learn that they hod magnetic carriages, on which the moveable arm of 
the figure of a man continually pointed to the south, ae a guide by which to 
lind their way oc roes the bound I eaa plains of Tartary; that was in the ob- 
icure age of Codrus, more than a thousand years before the chriatian era. 

About the year 300 A. D.. Chinese vessels navigated the Indian ocean 
under the direction of magnetic needles, and about 800 years later the mar- 
iner's compass was used in European waters, 

The time of the first knowledge of the deelioalioo or variation of the 
needles by Europeans is very obscure, hut the variation is found on a chart 
of 1436. 

Christophei 



of terrestrial magnet is 
the surveyor, was mor 



ibue, on his first voyage across the ocean, discovered 
ind by hie discovery gave a new impetus to the study 
n. Its vital importance to the mariner and also to 
i fully recognized, and gradually better instruments 
were devised for magnetic observariona, and different governments inier- 
ested themselves in developing a matter of such general interest. 

In connection with our survey ihe first public attention was given to 
the subject by F. R. Hassler, the first auperintendent of the survey in 1825. 
But the work was only fairly begun by A. D. Bache the neit Superintend- 
ent in 1843, in making observations tor dcchnation, dip, and intensity, with 
improved instruments, and they have been prosecuted uninterruptedly by 
the survey up to the present time. 

In May, 1882, J, 8. Lawson, Assistant U. 8. Coast and Geodetic Sur- 
vey, was instructed by tlie superintendent lo select a site for a permanent 
magnetic observatory near the coast of Southern California. Af(«r 
carefully investigating several sites in San Diego and vicinity, and also in 
the vicinity of this city, the present site was selected as combining the 
greatest number of advantages. Its freedom from local di-^turbing influen- 
ces, its secluded position, a good water supply, and its being in a city where 
nearly all the supplies re<|Utred could be obtained, recommended it further. 
Permission to occupy the Normal School grounds for the purpose in 
view, was obtained from Gov. Geo. E. Perkins of California, representing the 



tr IIOUTHHBII CAUFdRKIA. 31 

I Soard of Tru§teea of the State Normal School as its president ex-officio, and 
the building was erected and the latitude and longitude of its eile de- 
termined by aasiBlant A. F. Rodgeri; the latitude being 34'' 3' 10" N., and 
the longitude 118" 14' 40" W. from Greenwich. This was accomplished in 
July, 1883; the building was then turned over to Mr. Werner Sueea, mech- 
anician and magnetic expert, of the survey, who placed the ini 
r position and made the principal adjustmenta. The final adjui 
DUile vrith the co-operation of Mr. Mnrcud Balcer, acting assistant of the 
survey, who then took charge of the observatory; and tlie continuous ph«- 
tographic record was begun in Octolier of the same year. Mr. Baker con- 
tinued in charge of the work until August, 1S84, when he was relieved by 
the late Mr. Carlisle Terry, Sul>-Assistant Coast and Geodetic Survey, and I 
[ iucceeded Mr. Terry in February, 1887. 

I This observatory is supplied with a superior self-recording magnetic 

apparatus, called the Adie magnetograph. It consists of a unifilar, 
or declination magnetograph, a bifilar, or horizontal force magneto- 
graph, and a vertical force or dip magnetograph; and they record 
t of the magnets photographically. Tiiis class of in- 
j -Ktru meats was mainly devised by Welsh, and made by Adie of Lon- 
(^00, under the auspices of the British Association for the Advancement 
l.-of Science; and were first operated at the Kew observatory of the British 
f Association in 1857. Magnetic ohsorv.'L lories have been established at many 
i places, as at Toronto, CnnHda; Bombay, India; Pare St. Maur, near Paris, 
Lsnd successively, under the direction of Iho U. S. Coast Survey at Key West, 
r Florida; Madison, Wisconsin, and Los Angeles, California. The ohserva- 
^ tory at Kew is still in active operation, There are also " permanent " mag- 
c observatories iu Austria, Russia, Spain and China; but just at this 
writing I am unable to say if they use the self-recording apparatus. 

This observatory has been particularly well adapted for the observations 
made, on account of the equable temperature iu which it is located. To 
guard against the changes of temperature as much as possible, the building 
was made double, really two buildings one inside the other. There is a 
epiice of about three feet between the two, and each building bos walls and 
ceilings eighteen inches thick, packed with adobe soil. These precautions 
reduced the changes of temperature very materially, even though naturally 
[.. BO small. Taking a single year for illustration, the maximum temperature 
in the magnet room was 87.8" F., and the minimum, 52.5"; the greatest 
change for any one day was 5.2°, and the mean maximum and mean mini- 
mum temperature for the year were respectively 74.3" and 72.3", giving a 
mean daily change of only 2". The records obtained by the magnetographs 
at this observatory are of a differential character. On the HCh, 15th and 
16th of every month several sets of absolute measures for the declination, 
dip and intensity are made at another small observatory in the immediate 
vicinity, but sufficiently removed from the main building to prevent local 
■ inHuence. These observations are combined with the differential records. 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF 



CALIFORNIA. 



and the results ttiUB obtained furnish the material for the discnsaion and 
the investigation of the laws which govern the movementB of the magnet*- 

This discusBion and investigation is made mainly by Chas. A. Schotl, 
assistant in charge of the computing division of the survey, who bos de- 
voted much time and labor to the subject, both practically and theoretical It, 
and is probably the best magnetic authority in this country. His isogonic, 
isoclinic and isodynamic maps of the United States, which appear in 
coast and geodetic survey yearly reports, from time to time, and the di«- 
cuasions which accompany them, are well worth the examination of any 
one interested in terrestrial magnetism. Although our "permanent" oh- 
servatories are comparatively few, the survey has made hundreds of tempo- 
rary magnetic stations throughout the country, and much information hM 
been gained; and yet terrestrial magnetism remains one of the most intri- 
cate and mysterious problems of the age, and the cause of this uiysterioui 
agency is entirely unknown. Up to the present time no instruments hw 
been devised for making reliable observations at sea, consequently onr 
charts muatdepend upon land observationa for the magnetic information thef 
contain; but our coast observations, combined with the inland ubaervationi, . 
give very clear and close directions fur the isogonic curves; and thus 
mariner is furnished the practical information needed. 

The importance of a knowledge of the declination of the magnetic 
needle to the general public on shore, is testified to by the number of letter* 
received hy the office in Washington, asking (or information on lhe*subjecL 
In the early history of our country, all. or nearly all, of the surveys wen 
made with the surveyors' compass, and frequently no record was made of 
variation of the needle, if indeed any allowance was made. To be ableloi 
what this variation was in the locality and at the time the survey was ma 
is one oE the results of our observations ; and thus many portions of our 
country have boundary disputes settled, and tlie people spared much 
litigation. 

The instruments now in use here will probably be moved to Bui 
Antonio, Te:(a8, neil year, where a similar observatory will be built for thmr 
reception. Tiie usual lite of a "permanent" observatory in one place ia 
variable, depending on the directors, or governments controlling tbem. 
Six or seven years, or about the half of a sun-spot cycle, is the least period il 
is conBidered profita)ile to keep up the observationa in any one place. Th« 
reason for moving in this instance ia to investigate the laws of terrestrial 
magnetism where our knowledge is leas complete than in this state. 




* 



Comparison of l^ain Gauges in bos Angeles. 



tCEANT OKORGE E. FFiNKLIN. 



|ae«d June 4, II 



yno THE Historical Society of Southekn California — Lauies and 
-^ Gentlemen: Referring to a recent visit of your committ«o to thia 
office, aud con versa I ion upon the Bubjoct of the rainfall for the post sen- 
son, am) the doubt cast upon the accuracy of the signal service record, Ibeg; 
leave to adiireps you upon the Bubjeet. 

The impression entertained by many persons that a defect exists either 
in the exposure or the construction of tlie signal fervice gauge, is not borne 
I out by the fncts in the cose, as will be shown presently by a comparative 
.abatement of llie rainfall tor the past senjon as recorded by a number of ob- 
.«ervera in this locality, and while this data is not as comprehensive as I 
iflesire, it will answer the purpose sufficiently in refute the idea of iuaeeuracy 
i«f the signal service record. Another impression that has general credence, 
ifaroiigh the popular reliance on the recollection of past occurrences, 
instead of actual facts, ie that more than the Average number of rainy 
days occurred with an attendant large rainfall. This impression 
will also be shown to be erroneous, by a table compiled for a period of ten 
years from the signal service records, giving the number of days rain fell 
each season, the seasonal rainfall and averages. 

An examination of the following statement of the rainfall in this vicin- 
ity, as recorded by a number of observers, will show that the signal service 
'record is not defective, nor th;>t more than the usual amount of rain has 
'fkllen, except in the case of Mr. Ducommun's gauge, which records a pre- 
^pitation greatly in excess of any of the others. 

' BAINFALL, BEABON OF 1887-8. 






Keronl mi 






Mr. Ducommnn'i 



It will be observed from the above table that the record of all the 
observers, excepting Mr. Ducommun, have a certain correspondence, and 
■how neither an excess nor deficiency greater than is to be expected from 
the location of the gauges. 

The table below will show that the facts do not support the impression 
that more than the average number of rainy days occurred, or that the rain- 



34 HISTOmcAL SOCtEtY OF SOUTHERN CAUPOBMIA. 

fall was unusually heavy, but ou the conlrnry, the past eenson vtm (leficieU 
lioth in the number ot days on which rain fell and the amount of rainfall, 
will be obaerveii by comparing the Heason with the averogeB, 



NirsiBBB 


F DAYB RAJK FKLL EACH BEASON, AND SEASONAL HAIXFALU 1 


SCMDO 


1 im-9 1 itnv-go 


ISSO-l ISHl-2 188S-3 lHHa-i lUM-'i 1 lt«!-6 1£»-T UE-tf 1 


No.ord«y"r»lorel 


■1 H " 


36 SI H «4|27|3:^Im vI 


BilnnOl. iDchei. 


l-l- 


1:1.1a 10.W 11.11 Sfl.23 9.» { 2![.£S 1 U.TS nvl 



Averagv aumber of dityi n 



. 16.U iDplwa. 



The rains, with the exception of those falling during tbe lattar 
of December and the first portion of Janury, were comparatively light and! 
beneficial, the water being nbeorbed by the dry earth and not running off bi 
torrents aa is usual when heavy rainfall occura. Tbe difference betwoen ItH 
gauge of (his station and others in this vicinity, is due no doubt largely 
the exposure, beiug affected by wind currents and the tupograpliical fexlttRt 
of the country; this dilTerence is not more than is to be anticipated, 
mentioned before, except in the case of Mr. Ducommon'a gauge. There an 
several causes that seem to account for this difTarence, but are not entirely 
satisfactory in explaining why so great a ditTerence should exist in so luilit«d 

It is probable that the topographical features of the section of the dif 
Hhere Mr. Diicommon has his gauge exposed, have an impurUnt inHo 
in giving an increased precipitalian, as the high hills on either side oE thecilf* 
sloping to tbe river, form a trougb through which the rain currents, in pas 
are contracted and made mvre dense than in the open country, tending M. 
give an increased precipitation ; and also that here the wind is leas liable 
currents and eddies. Another Factor in explaining this difference, may lis 
that the amount of water collected by the sigual service gauge is affected bf 
the rain currents impinging upon the sides of the tower on which the gangA 
is located, producing a deflection that affects the amount of water leceivvd' 
by the collector. 

Admitting this to be a (act, the difference should not be so material U 
is noted between the gauges, amounting this season to nearly one hundred 
per cent. Another cause may be a difTereuce in the reading of the gauge*, 
which ciin only be determined by a careful comparison of the instrumenis. 
It seems scarcely possible that nearly twice as much rain should fall 
radius of less than one-fourth of a mile under nearly similar circumstances, 
and in order to determine whether this increased precipitation is due la 
natural causes or other effects, I desire to locate a standard gauge in that 
vicinity to ascertain if similar resulla will occur. I also desire to locate 



r 



HISTORICAL SOCIETT OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 



gauges ftt several other points in tbe city, and vouldbe pleased to have your 
co-operation and that of the membere of the Historical Society who feel an 
interest in the matter, 

I desire to give you a deacription of the gauge adopted as the standard 
instrument of the Signal Service, and the location to select for exposing 
gauges in order to obtain the best results. The signal service gauge con- 
sislH of three parts, the collector, a funnel-shaped receptacle 8 inches in diam- 
e1«r at the top, fitting into a brass receiver of uniform calibre, 2,53 inches in 
diameter and 20 inches deep ; these parts securely fit an overflow by a collar 
attached to the collector; the overflow vessel is to receive the surplus water 
when the receiver has become tilled during heavy rains. The amount of 
rainfall is measured by inserting vertically into the receiver a graduated rod 
until it touches the bottom, where it is allowed to remain a moinenl and 
then withdrawn, the number of inches or fractions of an inch the water has 
wetted being recorded. The sectional areas of the receiver and collector are 
as one to ten, the depth of water being ten times as much ae should be re- 
corded; hence ten inches of water in the receiver are equal to one inch of 
rainfall and one inch of water to one-tenth of rainfall. 

The best ejtposure tor a gauge is upon reasonably level ground, with its 
supports so arranged that the instrument will be vertical, with the top of 
the collector in the same hoirizontal plane and 12 inches above the ground. 
The location selected should be at such a distance from neighboring objects 
that their tops will not have an angle of more than 45" elevation above the 
gauge, and should be protected from interference by unauthorized persons 
or animals. 

A ground exposure is the best from the fact that elevated gauges are 
more or less subjected to wind currents and eddies, and these influences 
have a minimum effect at the earth's surface. It is not always practicable 
to locate gauges upon the ground, as in closely built cities, where of neces- 
sity they must be exposed upon tbe roofs of buildings, as free as possible 
from extraoRous eircumstances that would impair the accuracy of the record. 
Aa rainfall is not a constant quantity, varying with locality and causes that 
produce precipitation of the vapor of the atmosphere, a gauge measures 
only the amount of water that falls into it, and is analagous to a barometer 
which measures the weight of a column of air immediately above It, from 
which we infer that the neighboring columns of air are similarly affected, 
and conclude it furnishes an average for the vicinity. 




n BiogiTQphisal Sketch of li. J. F> laeger. 



[Read December SA, IStW.] 

yFHE pioneers of the Pacific Coaat are rapidly passing aw«y. Each one'i 
■*■ life is a history of travel, adventure and pioneering. Each one wm » 
witness of remarkable events, which compare favorably with any recorded in 
the world's history. With them perishes their knowledge, unless written. Huiy 
valuable accounts are thus disappearing. A few here and there »re being 
saved. H. M. Bancroft, more than any other man, has gone systemalicftlly 
to work, and, by throwing an army of canvassers into the field, has saved * 
great many of these piersonal sketches. Many he does not get, and more 
are lost. There is plenty of room for all in this line of historical work in 
Southern California, 

It was in this spirit that old "Don Diego," the pioneer ferryman of 
Yuma, was persuaded to have hia photograph taken, and this biogniphical 
sketch made, and botJi deposited in the archives of the Historical Society of 
Southern California. " Don Diego," as he is aSeclionately known by tba 
natives of Yuma, has lived since the year 18B0 at the place of " bisloric hoi- 
ness," He is of German descent. His full and true name is Louis John 
Frederick laeger. The German fonn is lager, a hunler. Cousins of hi" at 
San Bernardino* spell it Yager, which form of the word is a reminder of an 
old-fashioned gun. The nearest the Indians could come to pronouncing 
laeger was" Uiego," so as " Don Diego" has he been known all up and down 
the length and breadth of the Pacific Coast for the past forty years. For 
twenty-seven years he pursued uninterruptedly the occupation of a ferty- 
mttn at Yuma. Hundreds of Ihousauds of people crossed and re-croned 
the broad Colorado river ujjon his boats during those twenty-seven yean. 
For all of them, high and low, rich or poor, Don Diego bad a kinii word. 
No poor man was ever lef used a passage ; no rich man was ever overcharged. 
Travelers, soldiers, stuiesinen, iiliilusophers, historians, joumaliata, lawyeta 
and pneta found hospitality in liis hacienda; and by none was he immorUl- 
ixed more than hy J. Ross Browne. 

Of all who came his way he kept a brief record; the number of 
persons in the party, numlier of wagons, animals, home, destination, etc. ' 
An idea may be gathered of the magnitude of this work when it is known 







HIdTOBICAL SOCIETY OF SOL'THERH CAUFORNIA. 



rtbat in 1830-1, his first year at Yuma, over forty thousand people crossed the 
Colorado river at that point, coming into California. In 1857 there was a 
large emieration from Southern California into Texas, and Don Diego 
reapetJ ils henefits. Tlie railroad came in 1877 and built a big bridge across 
the river, and, like Othello, his occupation was gone. Business of national 
importance had frequently called him to Washington, and his counsel was 
beeded on grave matters. Few heads contniiieii more information than his 
on questions pertaining to Indians Mexicans, the froniier or the govern- 
ment domain. The doors of the White House were always open to him, 
and cabinet officers and congressmen were equally attentive. His form now 
is rounded and his locks are gri/Kled, but at the advanced age of sixty-four 
years his eyes are not dim uor are his natural forces abated. He is about 5 
feet 10 inches higti, and weighs about 150 pounds. His bair is slightly gray, 
and his full gray beard is Irimmeil short. Clear blue eyes lookout on either 
aide of an aquiline nose from under a high forehead which retreats slowly 
back to thin locks. Genial, warm hearted and communicative,he is a prince 
Junong pioneers for reminiscences. His home is now at Agua Slansa, a 
romantic Mexican village on the south side of Slover mountain, on the other 

I aide from the practical American town of Colton. 
Don Diego was born October 8, 1824, in Greenwich township, seven 
miles east of the town of HanibLirg, in Berks county, Pennsylvania. He is 
proud of his German hneage. His great-great-grandfather, and great grand 
grandfather.grandfather nnd father were all Lutheran preachers. His father 
was the Rev. Gottlieb F. I. laeger, and was born in lllingan, Wurtemberg, 
Germany, in 1797. In 1817, when he was 19 years old, he left the Father- 
land, and coming across the Atlantic in a sailing vessel, settled in Berks. 
He married Miss Mary Audenreid, by whom he had eleven children: 1 
Charles; 2, William (now of McDowell county, West Virginia); 3, Lewis 
John Frederick (now of Agua Mansa, and the subject of this sketch); 4, 
Thomas; 5, Katie; 6, tin. Louis Levan (oE Hamburg, Pn.); 7, George; 8, 
Mrs, Amanda Berger (of l.,anghorne. Pa.) ; 9, John; 10, Samuel; 11, Mrs. 
« S. Sallade (of Tamoqua, Pa,). 

t 16 years of age he was apprenticed to a machinist to learn the trade, 
irved till he wag of age. Ho was working in the Baldwin machine 
Utiops, in Philadelphia when the California gold excitement broke out. 
) accepted an uncle's offer to tit him out for the gold mines, and spent 
Ibristmas, 1848, with his mother, whom he did not see again for twenty- 
nine years. He purchased clothing sufficient to wear a year, and sailed 
from Philadelphia February 22, 1849, on the ship Mason, Captain Mason, 
bound tor San Francisco. The voyage was eveuiless enough for the 150 
passengers. They stopped twenty-two days at Rio de Janeiro, where they 
found 12,(X)0 Americans like themselves en route to California. They made 
a similar halt at Valparaiso, where there was an equal number of Ameri- 
cana. At the latter place Eorty-live American vessels arrived on one Sunday. 
^ San Francisco was reached October 6, 1849, and Don Diego is, therefore, 



38 HISTORICAL BOCIETY OF HOUTHEHJJ CALIFORNIA, 

B. pioneer. He did not go to the mines, but remained in the lively town of 
Verba Buena, as Sun Francieco wa§ then called, and hauled sand to build & 
brick block, the Montgomery batik, and also did some carpenter work. Ha 
joined a company which was organized to operate a ferry at Yuma. The 
members of that company, as he now recollects them, were Captain George 

A. Johnson (now of San Diego), Tough, William Blake (married at 

Santa Barbara, now dead), B. M. Hartahorne (now living at Htghlanda, 

Monmouth county, N. J.), Dr. Minton(a nephew of es-Senator Charlee 

Minton), Moses (a Jew), Captain Ogden, Henzelwood, Joscjih 

Anderson (now living at Cucanionga), Csplain Ankrim, Potter, 

and L. J. F. laeger. Besides tho twelve members of the company lher« 
were seven emp!oyi5a. The company chartered a sailing vessel, which cod- 
veyed them, in June, 1850, from San Francisco to Sau Diego, where ihey 
purchased teams to convey tliem across the desert. They bought bones of 
Cave J, Couts and Don Juan Itandini. Don Diego bought one good mule ot 
Don Juan Warner, now living in West Los Angeles, for the price of JTS. 

Their trip acrngs the Jornada del muerte (journey of death, as the Span- 
iards called long, waterless strips of desert) was fraught with danger. They 
nearly perished with thirst. They aave-l their lives by digging wvlle at 
points where water happened to be found. The company arrived t 
junction of the Colorailo and Gila rivers July 10, 1850, and immediat«ly 
commenced the construction ot a ferry-boat. They had no iron, and only 
such small tools as a.tes, wedges, augurs and what else they could afford to 
carry. The Indians were numerous and bothersome. They became ao 
siucy that tlie company was compelled to divide, some standing guard whila 
others worked, while even those who labored kept revolvers buckled to their 
waists ready when needed. 

They chopped down the algodonco (cottonwood treesl, and sawed out 
by hand the necessary ship timbers. The ferry-boat was put and held 
together by wooden pins and pegs. The first boat built was a common 
scow 33 feet long and 12 feet wide, and was two feet deep. There was a 
foot flare at each end. It was completed August 10, 1850, which shows that 
no lime was lost, and that all hands had worked haid. It was immediately 
put to use. With large sweeps it was rowed across the Colorado river. Th« 
swift current carried it down the stream nearly two miles, and wher 
men got ashore on the New Hexican(now Arizona)side, they towed the boat up 
the river to a point opposite the one from which they started. Tliie start- 
ing point, where scow No. 1 was launched, was the mouth of the slough on 
the California side, in the thickly wooded bottom, about half a mile from 
the site of the old fort. 

The ferry charges were remarkably moderate considering the impori- ' 
ance of the place and its remoteness from civilization. A team was charged ' 
$10; a single animal, as a horse or cow, 50 cents. San Diego, the neweat 
American town, was 150 miles to the west, beyond a desert where so nutny 
thousands afterwards perished. Southward was the ui.known Sea of Cort£i 



HISTORICAL BDCIBTr Of BOVTBESI* CAUrORJItk. 39 

bordered with desert ahores. Korthward was a great American desert, lyiug 
between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky mountainB, whose general char- 
aoleriBtic is an arid, sandy waste. The nearest eettlement to the eaat were 
the Pima villages, just above the great bend of the Gila river, and distant a 
liimdred and fifty miles. Tucson was the nearest town to the east, while 
Santa F^ was over 500 miles away as the crow flies. The whole country was 
inhabited by savage Indians. 

The general line of California immigration then, by the Southern 
route, was southward along the Eio Grande from Santa ¥&, thence westward 
through Guadalupe canon to the town of Santa Cunt in the Mexican State 
oF Sonora, thence to Tucson, where a few week's rest was usually taken. 
Then followed a ninety mile desert northward to the Pima villages on the 
Gila river, where plenty of wheal corn and pumpkins were always to be 
found. The Gila river was then followed to its junction with the Colorado, 
where Don Diego ushered them into California. The present line of the 
railroad was closely followed to the San Gorgonto pasa. This was a piece of 
the route where the greatest physical dangers were met, which overcame so 
Diany. Between Santa ¥& and Yuma the principal dangers were from the 
Apache Indians, but here it was a pitiless and often hopeless struggle 
ogainst fate. From Yuma to San Gorgon io pass is consideraljly over 200 
miles. This part of the desert includes the Cahuilla valley, the greater port 
of which is over 300 feet below sea-level, and lies between the San Bernar- 
dino and San Jacinto Mountains. The soil is a sandy, gravelly waste that 
grows little else ihan cactus. The heat from May till September oft«ii 
ranges as high as IJO^f. Then there was no water-supply except at brack- 
ish wells. The fatal mirage, that ocular phenomenon peculiar to the des- 
ert, still continues to lead astray the traveler crazed by thirst. Then it 
b'tumed aside whole trains, one of which was found when the railroad was 
k building. 



" Ringed ttrouud in circle while. 
Holding to each other tight 
Blenching skeletons lay there 
Witii their empty sockets glare. 
Vacant staring, westward turned 
Slill as when the eyeballs burned, 
Wiih that last despairing look 
When life's quivering pulse forsook. 
Not a ravening beast or bird 
Fleshless limb or trunk had stirred; 
Not a hungry wolf niignt dare 
Thus to brave the desert's glare 
In that waste of terror wide 
Thus they lay as thus they died, 



— Kerchev«l. 



Tlie Chino ranch was the next resting place before reaching Los Ange- 



40 



HIBTORICJL BOCIKTY OT BOrTBERK CAIJK)RKIA, 



lea. Isaac Williams of the Cbino ranch, like Don Diego, kept a regtsUr * of 
all pereona enjoying his hospitality. These registers and recorils are price- 
less beyond gold or silvfr. They contain Ihe names of hundreds who came 
seeking gold in the placer fields and found fame in tlie press, pulpit, 
exchange, pjlilics, college, and upon Che bntiSe field. It will be interesting 
to discover from these records a chapter in the early history of their lives. 

The company soon built a second ferry-boat. This one was sixty feet 
long and twelve feet wide. While changes occurred in the ferry busineas, 
Don Diego continued in it till the arrival of the Southern Pacilie in 1877. 
During those twenty-seven years he witnessed and participated in many re- 
markable historical events. He came into a howling wilderness; be ferried 
thousands of Argonauts into California; he saw General Hu^ilzlemoti sub- 
due the Yuma, Mojave and CocopA Indians; be saw Fort Yuma built and 
and its historic graveyard filled ; he saw Olive Oatmau rescueil from her long 
captivity among the Mojaves; he saw the Crabbe party marching to ita 
fate; be saw the great Ariijona mining boom; he saw the railroad come, 
and the Blythe colony rise and fall, all fertile themes for the industrious 
historian. 

Don Diego was married, and a son and daughter ore past their majority. 
And now in his old age he has chosen a home at Agua MansA (gentle 
waters). There he purchased five acres a little over a .vear ago, and hM 
settled down U> quietly pass Ihe remainder of his days under his 
and fig-tree. 



if Kl'.'linti] Glri). E>q.,of Itie C til bo ranch. 



# 



CXlhQt o member of the Society Sqixi in EgypC— -Alesson- 
drian Hntiquities^-The Pyramids—The Canal, Etc. 



[RvBd jBDUuy T. l»8n.] 

/|N tlie 16th day of Jfinuiiry of last year, 188S, desceading by & c&ble car 
^-^ from Mount Vesiiviiia, I met four Spanisli priests, who were going to 
sail for AleaBundria the day aft«r. Tliey were glad to hear that a brother of 
mine, a gentleman from Chile, and I were going to sail also by the same 
eteftmer. 

The bay o[ Naples is romantic by day and charming at night. The 
thousands of lights in the streets and park look, at a distance, like a, torch- 
light procession. Once in a while Mount VesuviuB emits a glaring light that 
illuminefi the countrj- around and the still waters of the bay. 

Next day we paseed in front of Lipari, and we saw a volcano puffing 
emoke. At4p. m, we left Messina, and toward dark we perceived Mount 
.£tna, covered with snow and emitting a great deal of smoke. Soon the 
sea got a little rough and continued so the whole night. Nearly every one 
waa sea-sick next day, and it was very late before I could venture to go up 
on deck. On the 22d we saw for many hours the island of Candia, or Crete, 
and on the 24th, about 6 o'clock in the morning, we enteretl the harbor of 
Alessandria, the entrance to which is somewhat ditlicult,and requires a good 
and practical pilot to steer you safely. In a moment the steamer was 
■urrounded by dozens of boats, and the Arabs wanted by force to take charge 
of our valises. The best thing is to keep cool, hut determined, and not to 
allow any one to touch your baggage unlil afler agreeing about the price. 
We had the good fortune to fall into the hands of a European, who acted as 
dragoman or guide, and who took charge of our baggage and current eic- . 
penses. At the custom house the priests were allowed to pass without show- 
ing their passports ; the other members of our party had to show thein. 
The same happened with our valises; they were allowed to go in without 
being examiued. We were a little surprised to tind such deference from a 
Turkish government. Our stay in the East showed us that tlie officers in 
general have a great respect for the clergy. Driven at once to the Fran- 
ciscan convenl, we heard along the streets: "Ja sidi, maa saUm, salam, 
salami." That means "Sir, I salute you," or our "how do you do." You 
must take care not lo give them any money for their politeness, otherwise 
you will find yourself surrounded by hundreds af beggars, uuable to go a 
step further. 



42 



HIBTOHICAL SOCIBTY OF BOnTHKIW CAUFOBIIU. 



The principnl fruita you notice in the m&rketare pickled figs.dat«t thM 
are deliciouB, and fine banatiBS. 

The common style of dress ia that of the Araba, nho form the bulk of 
the population. They wear a long shirt or loose gown, commonly wbit«, 
though some have it red, others yellow or marked wiih lines of vaiioua 
colore, or ftowera, Thia gown has an opening before the brewt in tfa* shape 
of a reveraed triangle. The breast, however, is covered by Bome other 
stuff- 

Their heads are covered by a red cap surrounded with a long, white band 
of clot'li, folded many times upon itself and twisted around. Thia they call 
a turban. Thoi-e from India have the scarf of black silk, lined with wl 
and interwoven with gold. 

This kind of cap is called by them " lefii," and not every one is allowed 
to wear it, only the heads of families, or those who have made a pilgrim^e 
to Mecca, or have acquired some merit before the public ; for example, if 
they have killed some Christian for tlie cause, which they call holy. 

Other people wear the simple red cap with a black tassel, which ia called 
" tarbfise," and Christians also wear it, but never the leffi or turban. 

The rich, having to appear in public, put over their tunic a black jacket 
or cloak that reaches to their feet. Their ahoes are low and mostly red, 
pointed with a high curve, so they can shake them ofT their feel very easily 
when they enter their mosques, or while sitting in their divans. The mid- 
dle classes sometimes use only a sole tied with strings, and many go haie- 
footed. The servants, whom we might call slaves, are poorly clad, many < 
almost naked. 

The costume of the Arabs of our day is eimilar to those who lived i 
remote antiquity, aa can be aeen from the Egyptian monuments, where the ' 
lowest of ehives are repreaented without tunica and almost nude, to distin- 
guish them from the fortunate ones called free. 

Women wear a cloak or veil over the head, reaching to the ground, and 
under it their dress or garment. The forehead ia covered with the hem of 
the veil. From the middle of the forehead hangs over the nose a tube of 
wood or metal, as thick as your finger and three or four inches long. With- 
in it runs a string to bold the veil, which is also tied to the hinder part of 
the head. This veil covers the face from the eyea down to the waist, uid 
sometimes reaches down to the knees. Ladies are dressed in black oUk; 



other 



;olor. 



The European part of Alessandria is new and very pretty, and looks 
much the same as one of our modern cities. The quarters of the Afkbe a 
flirty and the streets very narrow. 

The inhabitants work very hard to repair the damage caused by the 
shells of the English when they bombarded ihe city several years ago. 
will take a long timetoefl*ace the traces of the damage caused to the buildings. 

The finest churches are in the hands of the Greek schismatics. 
visited the «ne called " E van gheli stria," where images of the Biesaed Virgin 



HUTORtC&I. 800IXTT OF BOUTHESH CAUFOBHU. 43 

Uary, and one of 8t. George, beautifully enameled in gold and silver, are 
venerated. TbatchiiTch stands close by Ihc Franciscan Convent. The Catho- 
lics have the church of Ht. Catherine ; it is very large and fine. Every Sun- 
day there are seiinons in Arabic, in Italian and sometimes in English. As 
the Franciscans had no accommodations for us all, my brother, the gentle- 
tuBB of Chile, and I, took our quarters in the Hotel of Europe, well known 
by readers of novels, as that of " Ur. Potter of Texas" begins with "the 
deserted Hotel of Europe, in Alessandria." 

In the afiernoon we visited the column of Pompeii and a cemetery ad- 
joining. I noticed that every grave had a head stone and another equally as 
high at the foot. We passed through the market place and drove for at 
least an hour along one of the canals of the Nile. We visited Villa "Anton - 
indes," with its extensive gardens; it belongs to a Greek millionaire. We 
saw in these gardens catacombs discovered some years ago, which must be 
very ancient. We had to approach them in a boat, as very deep water 
^ fills tip the place. We noticed a serpent carved in the stone, and we were 
V told that there stood a little temple dedicated lo the serpent. We met 
^ several women with their faces covered, and we noticed the great profusion 
of red, yellow and black in man's dress. You would almost imagine you 
were at a masquerade ball, or in Venice during carnival time. We passed 
in front of the Kedii's gardens. Going to the light house we had to pass through 
tlifi soldiers' garrison, and I noticed at the entrance two sentinels, one Eng- 
lish and the other Egyption, as much as to say ; " We will divide with you 
the money, provided you let us remain in your country to dictate to you 
and accustom you to live under English rule." We saw the fortification of 
the harbor reduced to a heap of ruins hy the British navy, We saw from 
four to tive hundred cylindrical bombs, stored there in one of the h^lf 
dilapidated rooms, as rt^miuders to the poor Egyptians oE ihe havoc they j 
worked on them, snd to caution them not <o try to shake off the protecting^ 
hand of England (roui their shoulders. Going home we noticed in a street ■ 
flags hanging across and heard a band of music playing. We were told that ^ 
they were celebrating the wedding of a happy couple, and that the feast 
used to last a week. 

Next day at 9 ;30 we left for Cairo, where we arrived at one o'clock. We 
saw along the road many camels going towards Alessandria. As the ears 
run along the channel, I noticed the different ways they have to draw the 
water to irrigate their lands. In some places you will see two poor Egypt- 
ians, half naked, drawing the water with baskets and letting it run in a 
ditch. In other places it was drawn by horse power; and finally in others 
more modernized, by steam. What a contrast between the old slow way, to 
draw water by the force of human arms, and the modern invention by steam. 
There you had along that channel the Egyptian of the days of Pharaoh ex- 
tending his hand to the civilized Egyptian of the nineteenth century. No 
doubt the first one reminds us more forcibly of the words of the book of 
Genesis : " In the sweat of thy face thou shall eat bread." 



HIBTORICAL BOCIETY OF bOVTHSaK OAUFOSmA. 

Unfortunately our driver or cabman did not know any other langumgi 
eicept Arabic, and, as we did not know one word of it, tor nearly two lionn 
he drove ua from one convent to another, but never could guesa the right 
place. Annoyed and diaappoiuted we made him stop in the middle of OM 
of the principal atreets, when we were accoated very politely hy a servant, 
who invited us to the Hotel du Nil, where you could hear every Europeaa 
tongue, but the Engliah prevailed over the othera. I had a chance to apeak 
Italian with the giieat at my right, French to that at my left, English totlw 
gentleman opposite me at the table, and, of course, plenty of Spanish to mf . 
companions. The table was furniehed with the best of the market; tte 
rooms were very simple. We were told that we should have to pay only 
francs a day, but aa we had some extras, it came to 20 and 25 francs. Wbfl 
was to blame? Not the proprietor. 

What I had to admire most was the court or yard, with it« beantifnl 
palm trees and shrubbery. However, aa we were out the whole ti 
not care for flowers or plants, which we could aee at home, but we were anx- 
ious to see tlie moaijues, and above all the pyramids. 

We had a very late lunch that afternoon, so we atarted immediately 
after for the celebrated Museum Balac, and as it cloaea at four, we had only 
a very short time to examine the great antiquities it posaesaea. I cannot 
refrain from mentioning some of the principal ones, as it would take a largt 
volume to enumerate all the mummies, statutes and other objects of curie*- 
ity. It is with intereat that I looked at the the cotlin that held the mortal 
spoils of Ramesea Seson Ba, the great Seaortrie, who is in the 67th year «t 
bia reign became conapicueua for hia military and civil achievements. 

You scarcely can lind a monument in Egypt that was not restored itt^ 
hia time. For public works be used the captives, and he oppreased i 
cruelly the Hebrews. The emblems in the inner part of the cover of hil 
c.'ffin are very appropriate, namely, a rod and a whip — true emblenia of li 
life. 

The richest things in the museum are jewels of gold and enamel, of a 
quitite workmanship, appurtaining lo Queen Aalhotep. She belonged to ll 
16th dinasly, and lived a long time before the Hebrews left Egypt. W« 
have not to wonder, then, if the Hebrews worked such exquisite things i 
the desert as described by Musea. 

We know that some have used thia fact to deny the antiquity of U 
Pentateuch. To such opponents we could answer by inviting them to vii 
the muaeum of Balac in Cairo, and admire there the bracelets, collars, ea 
rings, poignards and knives of tjueen Aab Notep, far more t 
Moses, and as well finished and enameled aa tliat of the beat jewelry sfaofi 
ofourtimee. We paased from room to room filled with mummies thoot 
ands of yeara old. and in every shape, some entirely bandaged, others unco* 
ered on the breast. From some mummies have been removed, with j 
patience, the bandages impregnated with perfumes. These bands are of tl 
finest linen, and so tightly applied around the corpses that one waa fotuij 



HISTORICAL BOCmr OF BOITTHERH CIUFOUHA. 

by Marriette Bey more than than three miles long. It bad been uulooaed 
from the niiimmy of a rich man. 

We saw, under gluss, food, raw and cooked, more than three thousand 
years old, and it is well preserved. No doubt the dry climate of Egypt 
helps a great denl to its preservation. They have tried sexeral times to sow 
«'heat found in the cases of the mummies — it grows up but it never bears. 
Afler examining chains, vessels, combs, wigs and other curiosities which 
brought us back to [he times of the Pharaohs, we hastened out as the doors 
were closing after us. 

From the terrace outside we contemplated for a long time the Nile, so 
celebrated in sacred and profane history. I imagined I saw the babe 
Moses lloaling down in a well bicuminated basket, and then afar the same 
Moses becoming the terror of Pharaohand changing the water ot the same 
river int« blood. The Peraiiin kings at heavy expense would have water 
from the Nile for their table. Ptolomey Philadelphius took care to pro- 
vide of said water for his daughter married lo the King of Syria. Pesceuius 
Nero rebuked his soidiers for drinking wine in preference to the water of the 
river Nile. 

We visited an old Mosque 700 years old. We had to put over our shoes 
slippers which porters have at the door by dozens. It would be a great 
crime if you would dare to contaminate their sacred soil with your profane 
feet. 

At the time of our visit there were only two worshippers inside one lay- 
ing down soundly asleep, no doubt to avoid distraction in his prayers ; the 
other in great earnest kissing the flowers and raising his hands to heaven in 
humble supplication. From this very ancient mosque we passed to the 
fortress of Cairo. 

It is placed in such prominence that from it, you can command a view 
of whole city, having 400,000 inhabitants and its 400 Mosiiues, seeing far off 
the pyramids ef Gizeh and Saggnarcb. From the loop-holes stands out the 
mouths of Eugliah cannons, as the best means lo cool down the fan alicism of 
the MuBselmans. From a very high place, protected by a breast work, 
Mehemet Ali forced all the Mammaldechi lo jump down a precipice. Each 
horseman leaped with his horse the fatal somerset ; few remained alive and 
these so injured that they soon died. Mehemet finding himself free from 
this kind of pretorian guard, a race of slaves that had domineered in Egypt 
for a long time. At this rock he built a mosfjue worthy ot the name. The 
mosques resembles a Christian church — it bos three navies. It is embellished 
with gold and precious marbles. Rich chandelliers hang from every side. 
There is only a large inscription on the principal nave that reads as follows: 
"La illab oUa! llah, muhaniM rescinl allah," aud it means, "There is only 
one God, who is the true God and Mahomet is his prophet." 

From there we passed to Bio Juset, or well of Josaph. It is a deep well 
bored in the rock, which tradition attributes to Joseph Boz of Egypt. 

One of the most interesting visits in Egypt is that of the pyramids. 



46 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFOBIOA. 

After two hours drive along a. public roml, sheltered with lofty trees, mttV 
ing hundreds of ciLue's going to the great market of Cairo, we arrived at tb< 
foot of the great pyramid of Kheops. My tirotber and the children had pre- 
ceded me by half an hour, so that when I arrived there I observed that mjr 
brother, helped by two robust Arabs, was clinibiug to the top of th« greol 
pyramid. It was built by order of Kheops or Khouvu in a time, when hit- 
tory ha<I not yet been written, and after so many thausandg of years itan^ 
domineering the sands of the desert, and casting at sunset its gluomy sbail<>v 
for miles over the sandy plains of Gizeh. No words can describe the 
niensity of that monument. You feel almost oppressed under its wHght, 
and thousands of men at its base would look as ants moving i 
feet of a giant. 

The way the pyramid was built is recorded by Herodotus, who learned it 
from the lips oE Egyptian priests. That tyrant Eheops ordered alt the t«ii^ 
pies to be closed, and obliged all llie Egyptians to work for him. Ue 
ployed some to drag stones from the quarries of the Arabic monntaiDs tt 
Nile; other Egyptians were condemned to transport them to the 
of Lybia ; 100,000 at a time were working, and were relieved by others evKTf 
three months. It took ten years to construct the basis of the pyramid, and 
twenty years more to finish it. Each block measures thirty feet. My broth- 
er and others had the courage through a little hole to go to the inner part o( 
it, the fatigue and the danger is so great that any one who goes in is aonf 
to have attempted it. 

The second pyramid, called of Chefrene, is a greatdeal Hmaller.aad that 
of Mencherg seems a pigmy compared lo the first one, I satisfied myself bf 
passing close by these pyramids, hoihered to death by dozens of half i 
Arabs, anxious lo give me the history of those monuments tor the aake of ■( 
few cents. We were accompanied by a Turkish aoldier. We had to appeat 
to him to get rid of the Arabs, and we succeeded in being followed only fc^ 
half a do^en of them. We viiiited also the celebrated Sphinx, called by tbf 
Arabs Abril-bhol — Father of Terror. A few steps farther we entered intl 
the ruins of a temple of red granite, half buried in the sand. I never m« 
in my life such enormous stones. 

We noticed along the rood some poor prisoners, chained two by HM 
laboring in public works. 

Slavery is not abolished in Egj'pt except than in name. I wa> a. 
that in Cairo, alone, there are at least thirty slave merchants. Many nt 
those who serve in private houses, especially in the quarters of tlio J 
seem merchants while they are really slaves. You can see in public I 
private buildings laborers treated worse than beasts. 

How many young men are compelled to carrry on their shoulden a 
enormous heap of stones or bricks within a net of corda, so that they ( 
hardly walk, and so bended that their heads reach below their kneea. 1 
greater part, I think, were slavea. I am told that in proportion aa yott' 



r 



HiaTOKICAI, 80CIKTY OF SOUTHERN CAUFORNIi, 47 



tfftTel into the Upper Egypi, the horrors of slavery appeared more manifest, 
and thiB ill Bpite of civil lan'si that forbid Mahometana to keep Blavee. 

It is a fact proved by history that where Christianity has not entered 
■I»very exiatB vith ftll ita horrors, and that Christianty only is able to eradi- 
cat« slavery. We saw some servants called " cavvas," condemned to run on 
foot ahead of the carriage of their master crying: "look out, lookout — to the 
right, to the left," etc. You can see them sometimes out of breath and with 
their tongues protruding out ns dogs, and still they are bound to run in order 
not to be caught or trampled under their master's horses, that are running at 
a great speed. 

Next morning early we went to Matarich, to tlie iiorUi of Cairo, sin or 
eight miles distant, to venerate the ancient sycantore tree which, according 
to tradition, gave shelter to the Sacred Family in their flight into Egypt. 
The present tree, although very old is, according to some one, an ofTehoot of 
the old tree. It is very much appreciated by Christians and Turks. A 
beautiful garden of chosen flowers embellishes the place, and jessamines 
white as enow were hanging from the railing tliat enclosea the sacred tree. 
At a very short distance stood once the great city of Heliopolis. The 
sands of the desert have covered the ruiae of that once famous City of the 
Sun, and a few feet of an obelisk raises its bead through the sands, as to say 
to the passer by, here stood once Heliopolis. The Persian Cambyeep 
destroyed the temples of Heliopolis; the Arab Amru burned its famous 
libraries. 

With sweet and sad jnemorieB of the past we returned in haste to the 
hotel to take a hearty breakfast. Our appetites had been well sharpened by 
the long drive and cool morning breeze. 

At noon we took the cars tor lamailia after leaving a large city c ailed 
Zagazigh.we entered unto the desert, llial is the ancient land of Goshen and 
I recited the psalm "In Exitu Israel de a CEgypto." We had to close the 
windows of the cars, ae a very thin Band dust was almost suffocating us. I 
observed passing close to a channel of the Nile that the country is very ver- 
dsnt, and so it was when all the desert was irrigated by the Nile. 

About four o'clock we arrived at Ismnilia, a modern city built after the 

opening of the Suez canal. Here reside the officers of the society of the 

I canal. I saw in the public garden broken statues discovered not long ago 

I in the ruins of Rameae. The city is surrounded by a horrid desert, but 

i irhere the waters of the Nile reach tall palms and flower gardens bloom 

loxuriously. 

At five, in a small steamboat, we crossed the salt lake and began to 
descend toward Fort Said. The night was bright as are all the nights in 
Egypt and a full moon retlected in the water of the canal mode it appear as 
a silvery snake. We passed those four hours on deck, now looking to the 
desert that extended on botli sides of the canal in Asia and Africa, and con- 
templating two Mahomedans saying their evening prayers with many pros- 
_ tntionB, regardless of those who were noticing them. I was told by a pas- 



48 HiaTORtCAI. SOCIETY OF SOUTHEBN CALIFORNIA. 

Benger connected with the company, that in the moath of JaDuarjr of 1 
year S90 veaaela had paHsed through the canal leavin); a profit of 5^03^ 
francs, llie expenses he said, where lOO.OOO franca per day, that an 
of 16 ships paaaed daily, paying 9.60 franca per ton and 10 francs for e 
passenger. Coming down the canal we met a large steamer sailing ti 
Suez and we overtook another ateanier called "Sidney." whose electric h 
illuminated ua ahead for miles. Port Said with its frame buildinga loo 
very much as one of our cities of the tar weat. Nest day by an Austri) 
steamer we sailed for Jaffa to visit Palestine, and here I must leave you ft 
want of time, and fear to abuse your forbearance, forbids me to proceed ■ 
further. Palestine alone is worth more than a lecture, besides Asia, 
previously viai ted Mexico and Havana on my way toSpaiD.and Italy betoreai 
after my visit to the East, aasisting in Rome at the great festivities] 
of Leo XIII, To speak even in general terms of all these places requin 
more than the time allowed for n lecture. The few items I give you I 
night ou Egypt were written in momenta I tried to steal from my priesti] 
duties and from the late hours of night ; this will account for the i 
way in which these lines are presented to you. Accept them as a 
proof of the interest I lake 'tor the welfare of our historicol society. 





Some Observations on the Ulafds "Caehupin" and 
"CrioUo." 



BY OEOROB BUTLER ORTPFIN. 



I 



[Bi'iul November I, 1SS6.1 

TTTHILE employed aB one of a corpa of writera of the liiatorjcal works of 
^"Mj whkh Mr. H. H. Bancroft may be termed "mftnaging editor," I had 
occaaioD to read many books and manuscripts printed and written in Spain 
and in America. Aa I read I look note of various matters which seemed to 
me curious, and I gave considerable alteiitioa to the origin and use of what 
may lie termed Spanish-American words — i. e., those used by Spaniards but 
not originating in Spain, Among these words are "gachupin," as it is now 
written, though more properly it is "cachupin," and "criollo." 

In the dictionary of the Spanish Academy (Madrid, 1869) a "cachupin" 
is defined to be " el Espafiol que pasa li la America septentrional, y ae estab- 
lece en ella" — the Spaniard who emigrates to North America and eatablishes 
bimself there. 

Don Vicente Salvfi (Nuevo Diccionario ic, Paris, 1879) any* that "gach- 
upin" is the Mexican for "cachupin." SalvA always goes out of his way to 
differ with the Academy. 

I myself have met with the word aa far to the southward as Ybarra, in 
Ecuador; but as the delinitiou of the Academy expressea, the word was 
applied only to the Spaniard settling in North America. In South America 
(he word in use to express the same meaning is " chapeton." " Gapucliin " 
probably went southward, together with other words of Mexican origin, 
elicit UB '' chocolate " (Aztec " chocolatl "), though this word has gone the 
world over; " metate " (Aztec " metatl"), " petate" (ABtec "petat],",etc., elc. 
In Colombii, during the war for independence, some of the Spanish soldiers 
under Mori llo — " el pacificador " — frequently sewed prisoners up in jackets 
of green raw-hide and exposed them to the sun. The torture, until death 
put an end to it, was extreme, and these jackets were called '• gachupines." 

In hie " Milicia Indiana," (Madrid, 1599) Cuptain Bernardino de Vfir- 
gas Machuca says that " cachupin " is the same as " cliapeton," via : a man 
new in the land, i. e., America. Viirgas Machuca gives definitions of 
other words having their origin, or their special applications, in America. 
Thus : " Mestizo " is the ofispring of a Spaniiird and an Indian ; " bachiano " 
("baquiano")a person familiar with a countr.v, a guide; " chino," an Indian 
servant; "criollo," one born in the Indies of European parents. The word 
chino," I will say here, properly is applied to a person who has such an ad- 



50 HISTORICAL BOCIETY OF SOUTHEBK CALIFORKIA. 

mixture of negro blood that his hair is very sliEhtly kinky. Here, 
fornift, a " chino " is any person with curly Irnir. Some of our local 
ansare strangely misUken as to the menningof the word. In lbe"padTOn,' 
or list, of the founders of Los Angeles, the men and their wives are qualified 
according to race. Two only are written down as white men, and one of lb* 
ten is termed a " chino." Commenting on this fact, one of the wrilcra 
the Hev. Mr. Farnaworih's " A Southern California Paradise," remarks thai 
" one of the founders of our city was a native of Cliinal" 

In the " Bililioteca Hispana " of Nicolas Antonio there ii mention of 
writer named Cachupin. aud there was a governor of New Mexico of tht 
same name. It may he that some early emigrant from Bpnin, arriving 
Mexico, gave his name to all Spaniards as a claae. A similar usage u a 
with in all countries and among all peoples. On our o^n northern coa 
where the medium of intercourse hetween whites aud Indians is the Chinook 
jargon, an American of the United States is, or was, a " Boston man," i 
Englishman a " King George's man." 

Torquemada, in the " Munarquia Indiana," (I, 301) in his description 
the City of Mexico, mentions a hospital " donde acuden loa cachupinet 
gente pohre, etc.," where " cachupines " and the poor are cared for. Povei^ 
and illness were, it seems, the lot of some iSpauish immigrants, even tliou^ 
they were of the privileged caaie. 

In the " lihro de goUeme" of the Marques de Guadalct^zar, Viceroy 
Mexico, (ano 1620) there is an order prohibiting " gapuchines" and otbeit 
from entering inlo commerce at the niiuea, onlhe ground that they con- 
cealed and removed silver without paying the "qninlos,"or king's fifth. 
This document is very long. In two places a "gachupin " is qualified 
merchant coming in the aunual fleet from Spain. 

A brief of Urban VIII, dated 12ih November, 1625, established a ' 
naliva" between "cachupines," "criolloa" and"hiio8deproWncia" intbeelee^ 
tion of prelates of the regular orders of friars. "Ternativa," — altemati^ 
option, choice. 

In the " Anales Mexicanos " of Tecamachalco, I find ; 

10 Tepatl. Ynipa chicueyve marao yni yoac vuallalzhuic juevea 
Franco Garcia cachopin ganpatzmic mierculestica tcotlachuel oilacua yhiuiv 

huelolittlin In the tenth year of Tecpatl (1580), at daylight om 

March 8lh, Francisco Garcia, cachupin, died in great agony, caused bf 
having eaten ao heartily on the evening of the day previous. . 
AKtec epitaph for a glutton. From its orthography the word "cachttpin 
does not appear to be Aztec. It may have come — though this is not prob- 
able — from HOme one of the other tongues spoken in what is to-day the 
republic of Mexico, or from some country to the southward and north ot 
Darien, possibly from Panamik. 

Hanuel Oro/.co i Berra, in the " Noticia hist^rica de la conjuracion ilei 
Marques del Valle" (Mexico, 1653), in • foot note, pp. 42-4, quotes VftrgM 
Machuca, already mentioned. 



RtSKmiOAL BOOIETT OF SODTHBBN CAUVORMU. 

Fernando Bamirez, in the " No tic i as Hist6ricnB ij E8tn<IislicaB de Dii- 
rango," in a foot note, opinee that as originally used the word '■ gathupin " 
had not the meaning given to it later by pa^eion. 

IS Spanianls did not invent the word, they adopted it at a comparatively 
early date. In tlie first pari of "Don Quisoie," chap. XIII, we read; 
'' Aunqiie el mio " [liunice] " e^a de Ioh cochupineu de Laredo reepondifi el cam- 
inante." Ou this Clemencin commente and says that, in the second book of 
the " Diana " of Montemayor, Faliio, the [ta^e of Don F£lix says to Feliamona, 
at the time disguised as a man, "yo oi prometo & (e de hidalgo, porque lo 
soy, que mi padre es de los cachopinea de Laredo, etc." It may be that Cer- 
vanles borrowed the phrase ; yet, in his comedy of " la entretenida," a cer- 
tain " fregona linajuda " (a duchess disguised as a kilchen-wench) queries : 
" No soy de los Capoclies de OviedoT Hay mas que mostrar? " Cervantes 
was cnnalantly poking fun at the prejudices of the Astiirians and the " mon- 
taReses," who in respect of ancient lineage, are to the other provinces of 
Spain what the Welsh are to the rest of Great Britain. From the northern 
provinces of Spain many jjersons who bad not much " calidad " went to 
America, acquired wealth, and returned to found "casaa solariegas." These 
were the Cachopines and Gapoches of Cervantes; and in Spain Ibe word 
was applied to a "parvenu," a "nouvcau riche" — an upstart as our English 
tongue has it. 

Oroxco i Berra, already cited, thinks that" chino," "criollo," "gachupin" 
and pos-ibly " meftiio," were wonls invented iu the new world by Spaniard?, 
because it was tmpoHsible to convey their meaning by existing Spanish 
words, and that at first they were not meant as injurious epitliets, altliougb 
later a per%'erted use gave to them a new meaning. This opinion seems lo 
be well founded. 

Antonio de Roblcs, who may be called ihe Pepya of the vice-regal court 
of Meiico, in the " Diario de Sucesos NolableB," under date of 18th Decem- 
ber, 1672, jots down the following : " Uonja peregrina." En esta cuidad ea- 
tuvo una nionja gachupina, natural de Italia, etc."* Hence it appears 
that the word was sometimes applied to foreigners not Spaniards. This is 
not uncommon. To this day, in some country districts of England, all for- 
eigners are regarded as Frenchmen. In Colombia all foreigners are spoken 
of and to oa " Ingleses " — Englishmen. While U. S, consul al Medellin, ja 
that country, I was requested by the alcalde of Nare, a town on the river 
Magdalena — the great highway of the country — to take care of a country- 
man, who turned out to be a Comishman. The uun spoken of may have 
been a native of Sicily and by birth a Spanish subject. 

Father Lei va, in Ihe " Vida de Fray Sebastian de Aparicio," lib: III, 
cap. VIII, says that this religious, who hod been a carter, gave names to 
his oxen, calling one "gachupin," Fray Sebastian began to labor as a 
carter in lo76. It may have been that the ox called " gachupin," especially 
when ibia date is taken into consideration, was an imported auimaU 

: of Italr, etc 



52 HISTORICAL eOCIBTY OF aOnTBKRI* 

Throughout Spanish America it is customary fo ape&k of aDimala, AnA « 
planta, aa ''criolloa " or as "de castilla" — aalive or from Spain, and by ci- 
te nsion, from abroad. 

Id the work of Fray Don Juao Uiaz de Arce, Archbishop or Mexico, 
enliUed " Prfiiimo Evangelio," lib. I and II ; also in the " vida del Veuerahl* 
Bernardino Alvarez " — Mexico, 1651-52 — at the end of cap. 41 of hook I, and 
at the end of book 4 are two vereea which are translationa of aonge of tba 
Indians snug on certain occasions. Tlie verses, however, do not appear ill 
the edition of 1672. They are as follows: 

1°. 
Cien muliM tenia, 

Tambien un mocbil; 
Con que trae de plata 

^^^^^^^^ Todo cachupin. 

^^^^^P^V Venga toda Espafia, 

^^^^B Que & homhre gacbupin ; 

Su requA i moradatt 
Se ban de prevenir.* 

This is a mild poetic veogeance, as it were, on the part of deacendanU 
of the Aztec traders whose places were filled by foreigaers. 

And in lib, II, cap, III of the last mentioned work, there in quoted K 
order of Bon Pedro Moya i Contreras, Archbishop of Mexico and 6or»roor 
of New Spain, in which reference is made to certain negroes and oegrMSM 
who were inmates of the hospital of Vera Cruz aa • • • " Ju«n criollo i 
i Juan chichinieco. • • • hijo de Catalina criolla. • • • Doming^ j 
criolla." So it appears that the term " criollo " waa applied to blacki kiM | 
who were born in New Spain. 

Bernardino Vargas Machuca, already quoted, says — as we have seen — 
that, a cripllo waa the child of Spanish parents who was born in Americk, 
Vargas Machuca, at the time of writing tlie " Milicia Indiana," resided IB 
South America. But the Dominicans who established convents in Cbiir 
pas and Yucatan gave a more extended meaning to the word " criolto." 
an ordinance of a provincial chapter of the order, celebrated in 1570, ii 
following: " Item ordeuamoi i mandamos que niuguno le recil>e si habits 
de log que llamau " crioUos," i tambien llamamos " criollo " a aquel que deads 
los primeroi diez anos de su edad se ha criado en eatas partes de las Indiu 




Sq. let uxsiTe ft wek'cme 
To oil who come from Hpiln; 

To every ooming "ncbapln" 
Glvt' lodglBgi tna ■ ti&ln. 




HinOBtCAL BOOIBTY OF SODTHXRir CAUFOHNU. 



53 



" of Fernando Gen- 
ome verees entitled 



aunque hayti nocido en Espana."* Thia qu')tation is tn<m " Remeaal, His- 
toria de Chiapa," lib. IX, cap. XV, notes 2 and, especially, i. Thus, it will 
ba seeD, Ihuse who buried themaeLves in the cloister itill longed For the ex- 
clusive [Kiaaession of the flesh-pots of Egj-pt. 

In the " coloiiuios eapirituales i sac ram en tales, e 
taXez de Ealava, Mesico, 1610, at folio 167, there are ac 
" Enealada de Cacliapiu," beginning : — 

Maravilla, manivilla, 

Dense gracias & Dios sin lin, 
Une ha vonido tin Gachupin 

De la celestial Castilla! 
Contadle una tonadilU 

Aquf porque se entreteoga; 
Norabuena venga 

El Oai-hupin A la tierra. 
Norabuena venga, etc.f 



criollo." Id the succeeding verses of the 
ler is (leBcrihed. 

ere " criollos " the strife for place ami pre- 
" gachupiues " weut on with ever-ine reading 



» 



Undoubtedly the poet was a 
poem the dress, etc., of B, new eoi 

From the time that there t 
ferment between them and the 
violence and virulence. 

In 1703 the Jesuit Father Pedro Avendaiio wrote a labored clerical 
satire entitled, " T6e de erratas .... del sermon, etc., que medio 
predicfl i despues imprimiiS del todoel Doctor Don Diego Znaio i Cascajales, 
flt«."} Father Pedro says that the "aprobaoion"' of the sermon was given by 
*3o» frailesi gachupines i no doacl^rigosi criollos, i5 Alo menosuno i uno." I 
Avendaiio was a native oF Pueblo and Zuazo i Cascajales was born in Spnina 

Valbuera, who in 160.3 wrote a work entitled " Graudeza Mexicana," in 
Cap. I, enumerating the dlfTerent classes of society in the capital, says: 
"Arrieros, officiales, contratantes, cachopines, soldadott, niercaderes, galanes, 
caballeros, plcitnnles, etc."|| 

Solfinano, in the " Polltica Indiana." (Madrid. 1776) lib. II, cap. XXX, 
•ays : " Criollo," bom in Indies of Bpauiab parents. " Mestizo," the off- 
spring of Spaniard and Indian. "Mulato," the offspring of Spaniard and 



• lUn 



We ii 






■fAn 



errkts coatitlned In the i 
t. though hti all«rivanU |>1]1 
W Officer! ind " gichaplnet." and 



endleu fb*]ik«ti>Ood! 

Hers cumea another "KBohupIn" 

From Spain's celeMlal *od '. 
Chuit * nDg of welcome 

OnrgDCalto •BMrtnin: 
Hsilco ^lTe« sreetinii 

Tu Uic '■ gapliU))lii of Spain. 

of which Dr. Doi 



" CBuhuplnei," wldlen 



Diego ZuMO I CuMjftlM 
Tlolloa"— ot. U beat, use of 

■ra, he«Bi, aicutlemen, lio- 



54 



BIBTOBICAL 80CISTY OP EODTBERir CUJFOBNIA. 



U cliue, ( 

16981 Fray AguBtin de VetM 

S, says ; " Graciiu i Dios, que ai 

ao conaientan que los nacidoi en 

; Uaman criollos porque se cri»o 

ioUo " probably ie a, derivative of 



Negro. The chapter ireats of the quality ami con'litioDs of these ca8tea,uid 
it is argued whether or not they should be consitled aa Bpnniards. 

Tomas Gage, a Jesuit, traveled in Spanish America and abnnt 1650, 
wrote a book entitled " Naeva Relacion, etc." A new edition was printed rt 
Paris in 1838. A translation was published in London in 1677, under th« 
title of "a new survey of the W, Indies," In book I, at p. 16, of thft 
Paris reprint, Gage snje : " Los que nacen at!f de padres espai5olea, i que li* 
Europeoa Uaman criollos paru dislinguirloo 

In his -'Teatro Mexicano," (Mexico, 
curt, himself a Mexican, in book I, p. 1 
Mageatad i el Eeal Consejo de las Indias m 
las Indiaa de padres espaiiolea (que ya e 
en ellaa) sean, etc"} The word ' 
" criarse." 

The Ynca, Garcilaso de la Vega, son of a Spanish "conquistador" anda 
lady of the royal blood of Perd, who waa born in Cusco and became a captain 
in the Spanish army, in the " Comentarios Reales ", (Madrid, 1723), lib. IX, 
cap. 31, says; " & los bijoa de EspaTiol i de EspaHola oacidos allA, dic«D, i 
olio 6 criolla, por decir que son nacidos en IndiaB."1I 

Title 5 of book VIII of the " Recopilacion de Indias " ireata of " mnV 
atos," " oegroB," etc, but says nothing of " gachupines " or "criollos." 

There grew up a hatred between " Oachupiu " and " CrioUo," and during 
the war for independence there circulated in Mexico many poems d)reci«d 
against the former. One of these, furnished to me by Judge Ygnacio SepU- 
veda, runs as follows : 

O, Vfrgen Quadalupana 
Kodeaila de serafines. 
Que viva la independencia 
Y mueran Ins gachtipinea!|) 

We may conclude, then: "CrioUo" at first meant only a child of Spuf 
iah parents who was horn in Indies; "gachupin" at first signified a Spaniard 
who emigrated to the North American Spanish Indies with the iulention of 
becoming a permanent resident. Later a '■ crioUo " was a person born in th 
Indies of any descent other than from indigenes — in whole or in part ; 
" gachupin " came to signify any foreigner in North American Spani^ 
Indies. Ultimately the word " gachupin" acquired a meaning very liketv- 
that given to the word " tory " in this country duriug the revolution, while 
the " gachupin," in turn, spoke contemptuously of the " crioUo." 



* Thosv w uu are bom hen- of Xpamih parenu and w 
dimagulih Itaem frum Ihclr own caets, ela. 

t Ood be Ihanke'l Ihal Bla H&leity and Iha Roval Coui 
born ID Indlei of Bpaolali pareDti (aod Irbo arc called "cr 

4 The cblldreo ot a BpaDlih man and a Bpnniih womi 
'mloUa," uCautamonDt touylDR Choy wen bom in ladi 



in the EuropeaDi call ' 
ciloflndlHdoi 



eriolln*. ' 



rlDllos," beciUH Uier u 

bom there ibcy call "enoUo" 



llOh. vlncla of Guadalupe, 



Offieefs' Hepofts iov 1888. 



Treasurer J. M. Guinn reports for 1888 : Receipts, 1227.55 ; expendi- 
tures, $101.00 ; balance on hand January 7, 1889, $126.55. 

Secretary £. Baxter reports: Nine meetings in 1888; four original 
papers read ; one pamphlet (the annual of 1887) published ; two regular and 
four honorary members elected ; and publications received from eleven other 
historical societies. 

Curator Ira Moore reports donations for 1888 to be : 24 bound books, 
92 pamphlets, 4 folders, 1 photograph, 1 wood engraving, 3 lithographs, a lot 
of maps, a cannon ball, and some minor curios. 







^ 




1 


1 HISTORICAL SOCIETY 


1 


^H 


H 


pOUTHERN CALIFORN A 


1 


^H LOS ANGELES. 


1 


^^B 

^^^L 

^^^K 


1 


PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY, 


1 


K_ 


J 






'I 

I 

r 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



OF 



SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 



LOS ANGELES. 



1890. 



PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY. 



LOS ▲XOELXBy CJkX.: 
EVEMLNO KZFREBB OO^ FIUMTEB8, 333 8. MADT ST. 

1890. 



PAOB 

Offioen and Committees, - - 4 

Retiring Address of President £. W. Jones, 6 

Inaogoral Address of President J. M. Gninn, - 8 

The Story of St. Vedalia—By Albert F. Kercheval, 10 

The Great Real EsUte Boom of 1887— Bj J. M. Gninn, 13 

History of the Catholic Church in Los Angeles County — By Rev. Jos^ Adam, - 22 

From St. Louis to San Frandsoo in 1850— By J. £. Clark, 27 

Exceptional Years — By J. M. Guinn, 88 

"The Twin RaUcs of Barbarism"— By John A. WHla, 40 

Report of the Committee on Meteorology — Prepared by J. M. Guinn, - - 45 

Secretary's Report for 1889, 50 

Treasurer's Report for 1889, 50 

Curator's Report for 1889, 51 

Report of the Committee on Publication, 51 




ORGANIZATION 



W Vice-PreuidentB — E. W. Joneb, Geoboe Butler Griffin. 
I f B. A. Stephens, January- to July, 1890. 

I Secretary— j|^_ ^^ Goodwin, July, 1890, to January, 1891. 

B Treasurer — H. D. Barrows. 



ISGO-ISQl. 



OKFICERS. 

Preaident^-J. M. GUINN. 



Curator — Ira More. 



COMMITTEES : 



Executive— C. N. Wilson, J. C. Harvey, B. A. Stepheiw, 
Ira More, C. E. Daily. 

Finance — K. Baxter, John Mansfield, H, S. Orme. 
Publication — H. D. Barrows, E. W. Jones, C. L. Goodwio. 
History — George Butler Griffin, J, Adam, George Hansen, 

C. N. Wilson, A. F. Coronel. 

Geology — John ManaBeld, Ira Mora, H. S. Orme, 

N. Cole, Jr. 
Meteorology— W. F. Edgar, J. P. Widney, H. J. Hancbetta 

Isaac Kin ley. 
Botany— N. Levering, J. W. Forsyth, J. P. P. Peck, 
William Burr. 

M. C. Westbrook.' 
George Butler Griffin. 
Mineralogy— E. W. Jones, C. C. Stephens, J. E. T. Budington. 



Genealogy and Heraltlry — B. A. Stepher 
H. M. Mitchell, 



^ 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY 



SOUTHERN CALIKORNIA. 



LOS ANGELES. 180O. 



r RETIRING ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT E. W. JONES. 
Delivered January 6, 1890. 

Ladies a-nd Gentlemen of the Hinloneal Society oj Southfrn Califomiii : 

In taking leave of the chair of thifl society, I desire to express my 
thanks to its members for the kindly consideration which they have 
exercised toward me during my incumbency as president, and to con- 
gratulate them on the growth in membership and maintenance of the 
good character of the organization. I congratulate them on the evidence 
of permanent life and usefulness which the society now exhibits, and on 
a prospective growth which will give us on important position in this 
conmiunity and among similar inslitutions throughout the land, I re- 
fuse to believe that I am too sanguine, when I predict that the His- 
torical Society of Southern California, founded and struggling through 
the first few years of its existence under all those discouraging dis- 
tractions that attend a scramble for wealth on the part of the com- 
munity that should support it, will, from this time on, rapidly advance 
to a high and distinguished place among bodies of this character. 

The material is abundant among our people. We can gather in 
many members of high literary attainments and special fitness in 
historical and many lines of scientific research and exposition by 
making known to them the character of the mission we are attempting 
to fulfill. The society deserves success ; it is worthy of a final grand 
triumph as an important factor in the educauon of our people. 

History, experience, the lesflons of the past, are the great educators 
of the world. " There is nothing new under the sun." 

This is a historical society, and though our field of labor includes 
the sciences, it is, science and all, practically, a historical field. We 
base the most of our theories and sjteculations on the recorded or re- 
membered discoveries of the past. From the records, original and 
collected, which the society aball make, thoae who come after us will 



6 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. I 

learn somo of Ihe most valuable leaeona of their lives. Their influ- 
ence will affect both the community and the individual, not often, 
perhapB. with vivid demonstration upon the aurface, but down deep, at 
the very base of character and diapoeition. 

The records of ancestors and their times, like the blood that fiotrs in 
the veins of deacendante, guide and inspire the conduct of men. Those 
records should be accurate. It is our duty to make them so, though 
not dry and devoid of revelation of everytliirig but material fact, other- 
wise tliey will be unhealthful like the impure mixture sold for gotxl 
wine. We should awake to the awful fact that the people of this coast 
occupy to-day the most critical position of all the enlightened people 
of the globe. We are set here utterly defenceless, over against shores 
teeming with hordes we delight to call barbarous, with but the Pacific 
ocean, an insignificant obstacle in view of man's present jwwer to sub- 
due the seas, to separate us from the most populous of nations, abound- 
ing in wealth, having vast control of power, devoted to the homeland ; 
a nation of fatalists, rapidly acquiring the arta of our civilization ; be- 
ing armed and drilled like the armies of Europe, accumulating great 
stores of munitions of war, and a powerful navy ; a people whom we 
are doing all in our power to make our enemies, and of a characler 
with which we must clash and can never blend ; who must swarm to 
other lands for room for existence ; whose most natural course of at- 
tempted conquest when their power jwrmits and population demands, 
is by our own route across the continent — how can we avoid the con- 
flict, or come out victorious from it 7 It will depend upon the man- 
hood, patriotism and ability of the mixed and fraternized races which 
then constitute our countrymen. 

The convulsions in the enlightened world which the drcunjatances 
mentioned are eventually certain to bring about, will have no parallel 
in history, as the powers put in operation will have never been equaled. 
The history of these times, and the event* and circumstances which 
are now hastening them, will be a work of surpassing interest, but it 
will be without the value it should possess If lacking the accurate data 
of every kind which may now be gathered, from which the nature of the 
people of this region who meet the shock, and the influences and prt>' 
gresB of their development, shall be known. 

It is said that the social history of a nation is the only one worth re- 
cording. The salient events only in the life of a nation, the brilliant 
achievements of an epoch, or an era, or of an individual, an army, a 
court, or a congress, do not give insight into the character of a people 
like a familiar introduction to their every-day intercourse with their 
friends and neighbors, and their habits and customs in huaiacss And at 
leisure. 



RETIRISO ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT. 7 

It is necessary also to know Ihe races from wheiicn they spring, their 
family history, their occupatioiie, recreations, sports and dissipations. 
In many a sense the most vital, the life of the citizen ia the life of the 
nation. So is the character. Intimate detail and truthful description 
are most valuable, as the truth in the long run is always better than a 
lie. Adulation may be glittering, but it is seldom gold. Abuse may 
be grand, but it may be unjust. The immaculate hero never existed, 
nor did the monster without a redeeming trait. 

The story of soul-stirring achievements spurs many another soul to 
similar deeds, and is of glorious utility, but the deeds performed are 
oftener those of impetuous youth than of riper years, and motives and 
repults are faulty and crude. 
I I am far from belittling heroic deeds. God, country, home, friend 
&nd virtue are many times served and saved by them. But I claim, 
with due respect to the hero, that his lesson to humanity is not so fruit- 
ful of the finest results as that of the individual and community life of 
the people, nor do the hero's deeds tell the story of the race. The hero 
may be the thunder and rending bolts of the storm, but the full power 
IB shown only when the torrents descend, 

I would see this society gathering, in every possible detail, the facte 
with regard to the origin, the rise and progress of the people of Southern 
California. 

This is to be a separate State at no distant day. It is to be a State 
peculiar in regard to its people, as it is in regard to its climate, soil, 
fruit, its ocean frontage and its dry interior basins. It is a region ee- 
pecially adapted to a people of independence, culture and refinement. 
It will be characteristic of its inhabitants that they will endeavor to 
bring happiness to all with whom they come in contact. Poetry, paintr 
ing, sculpture and music will flourish here, and literature win praise 
from a critical but delighted world. The enjoyment of the pleasure of 
dwelling here becomes so much a matter of course that we fail to 
appreciate the fullness of its blessings, though we are apt to give it lip 
service till we tire our own ears. This side of paradise we know we 
can hope for no better home. With the strong races that constitute 
our population, we shall build up a strong State. We shall form 
commercial relations with Spanish America, Asia and the ielands 
of the South Sea. We shall have argosies sweeping into our harbors 
from the richest ports, and we shall see them again disappearing 
below the horizon laden with our own " corn, wine and oil." 

And this society, in its own temple, a model of architectural beauty 
and taste, and equipped with all that modern art and genius can devise 
to further and perfect labors which it shall faithfully and intelligently 
I pursue, shall sit aod write the lessons of the ages. 



INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT GUINN. 
Delivered February 3, 1890. 

Upon taking the chair as presiding officer, allow me to congratulate 
the HistorJcftl Society of Southern California upon the advancement 
made during the past year. The year 1889 has been one of the most 
Buceesaful years of the Bociety, not only in the increase of membership, 
but also in the number of papers read, and in valuable historical and 
scientific material accumulated. 

Now at the beginning of a new year, encouraged by what has been 
done, let ua resolve with renewed energy to push forward the work of 
the society. 

The work of our society, as outlined in its constitution, is dual in its 
nature. Our organization is at the same time a historical society and 
an academy of science. 

" The collection and preservation of all material which can have any 
bearing upon the history of the Pacific coast in general, and of Southern 
California in particular," while stated as one of the chief objects of our 
organization, yet the discussion of scientific subjects, and the trial of 
scientific experiments are recognized by its founders as objects equally 
important. The objects of the society as outlined in its Constitution 
are indeed comprehensive and far reaching. To accomplish these we 
must enlist in our ranks workers in the different departments of his- 
torical and scientific research. 

In the department of history more has lieen done than in any other, 
but there is still much to be done in that. There may not be many 
valuable historic facts of the period of Spanish and Mexican occupa- 
tion that have escaped the keen researches of Bancroft and other hi^ 
torians, but of the medieval or middle period of California history, the 
tiiue from the American conquest to the advent of the first trans- 
continental railroad, there is much of value and instruction that ought 
to be collected and preserved. 

We have among us men who were actors in the stirring events of thai 
time, men who helped to make the history of that period, who could, if 
they would, give us valuable historical contributions. The era of gold 
hunting is the heroic age of California history, and the stories of th« 
Argonauts are always listened to with an absorbing interest. 

Biography is a most important adjunct of history. We should havs 
in our archives a biography of every pioneer of any prominence, and, 
if possible, a photograph or likeness of each. 




INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT. 



While the field of sociologic history has been measurably well tilled, 
f that of natural history haa been almost entirely neglected. 

Scientifically conaiderod Southern California is almost a terra in- 
cognita. Of the geological formation of our part of the State we know 
but little. There has been but little done towards classifying the rocks 
of our hilU and mountaiuB, or analyzing the soil of our valleys. 
I Its mineralogy, too, has been neglected. Although gold was diecov- 
[ ered and successfully mined in the cafloiM of the Sierra Madres forty 
years before Marshall found nuggets in the mill race at Coloma, 
and although there are rich mines of the precious metals and vast 
deposits of copper, iron, tin and other minerals in our part of the State, 
yet there is not, to my knowledge, a museum or cabinet of Southern 
r California ores in existence. Our eeciety should begin at once 
[ collecting for such a museum, which not only would have an intrinsic 
value in itself, but it would have its effect in encouraging and pro- 
moting the development of our mineral resources. At present our 
facilities for displaying specimens are meagre, but when we move 
in^o our new quarters, it is to be hoped that we will have ample room 
to exhibit our collections. 

The meteorology of our coast is worthy of scientific study. The 
majority of the treatises on the climatology of the Pacific Coast are 
glittering generalities, largely based upon guess-work, or upon theoriea 
that have no scientific foundation. Our society ought to keep a record 
of atmospheric phenomena. It is only from records nmning through 
a series of years that any general climatic law can be deduced. 

There is one important division of natural history for which we have 
no comndttee, that of entomology. In a country like ours, largely de- 
voted to fruit raising, the study of insect life, and particularly of insect 
pests and the means of exterminating them, is one of vital importance. 
I would recommend that a committee on entomology be added to the 
list of our standing committees. 

it may be objected that these recommendations partake of the utili- 
tarian, and tend to lower the tone of the society. I answer this is a 
utilitarian age ; utility is the measure of values. Our society will be 
valued by the amount of useful work it does. In the language of our 
first president, Col. J. J. Warner ; "'This society was formed for work. 
It was not formed for show, for the name of the thing, but to do 
Bometbing." 



THE STORY OF ST. VEDALIA. 

BY ALBERT F. KERCnEVAL. 
I Uniribuitd July, iS^.l 

Perhaps within the memory of the present generation, since the dii- 
covery of gold, few events have proved of such surpaasing interest and 
importance to CaUfornia as the discovery and introduction of the 
Vedalia Cardin-itis, popularly known as the Australian lady-bird, or 
lady-bug, and the history of the luiracile wrought by her in the exterm- 
iaation of the countless hosts of (he terrible Icerya purcfiast, or cottony 
cushion scale, may well be worthy of a place in the archives of the 
Historical Society of Southern California. Some time, about the year 
1876, the white scale was ititroduced into Los Angeles on some orange 
trees imported from Australia by Mr. T. A, Garey, but none at that 
time dreamed of the baleful significance of those snowy Hecks appear- 
ing here and there, and etealtliily stealing from tree to tree. But tht 
"cloud no bigger than the hand" at first, grew until it overspread the 
whole horticultural horizon. Then when men realized the terrible 
character of the scourge that was upon the land, desperate and frantic 
efiforts were made to stay it, but without avail. Relentless in its march 
as the ruthless hosts of Attlla, it ravaged ihe richest and fairest valea 
upon which the sun looks down, and left but ruin, desolation and de- 
spair in its path. All kinds of trees in addition to the citrus family, 
vineyards, shrubbery, flowers, weeds, alfalfa, everything in the shape 
of vegetation, was in turn being attacked by the loathsome destroyer, 
and settled gloom and foreboding reigned over ail. During all this 
period numberless and costly experiments were being conducted all 
over the coast with sprays, mixtures and emulsions, comprising every- 
thing deadly known to chemistry and science, but no material benefit 
was ever derived from their use, although some check was in places for 
the time being, made to the onward march of the victorious Icerya, and 
oftentimes the destruction of orchards hastened considerably thereby. 
Treatment by the gas process proved equally ineffectual, and probably 
half a million of dollars would be a very conservative estimate as the 
cost of labor and material thus vainly expended. Many horticulturists, 
who had been deriving princely incomes from the citrus fruits at the 
rate of from five hundred to one thousand dollars per annum net per 
acre, found themselves suddenly deprived of the same, and no words 
can adequately portray the despair and hopelessness of their situation. 
Probably five millions of dollars would be altogether an inadequate 




TUE STORY OF ST. VEDAIIA.- H 

compensatioD for all the losses and damage caused by the cottony 
cushion scale from the time of its first appearance in Soutlieni Califor- 
nia to the present, and it will reciuire many years for the trees not 
absolutely ruined to regain their old-time healthfulness and vigor. 

It was at this juncture, in the year 1888, that it was decided to send 
Mr. Albert Koebele to Australia on a mission for the discovery, if pos- 
sible, of some parasite or predaceous enemy of the Icerya, it being a 
theory with many that Nature always provides an antidote for every 
poison, and a remedy for every evil, if we hut know how to avail our- 
selves of the beneficent provision. Much acrimonious and unseemly 
discussion has been indulged in as to whom belongs the merit of the 
suggestion, and the measures taken to render it a success, hut as Mr. 
Koebele was under pay, and acting under instructions from the Ento- 
mological Dirision of the Department of Agriculture, to Prof Riley 
and his subordinates undoubtedly belongs much of the credit originally 
of the great discovery. Although during several years preceding Mr. 
Koebele's arrival in Australia, the white scale had almost ceased to ex- 
ist there, no one could assign the true cause, but it did not take Mr. 
Koebele long to make the discovery, although owing to the scarcity of 
the Icerya, and consequent scarcity of the Vedalia, it was with great 
difficulty he succeeded in obtaining and forwarding to Prof. D, \V. 
Coquillett, of Los Angeles, two or three small colonies in December, 
1888, and January, 1889. Proceeding afterward to New Zealand he 
discovered them there in much greater numbers, and from thence sent 
in the spring several larger colonies, the first being placed in the orch- 
ard of J, W. Wolfskin, Esq., on Alameda street, Los Angeles, and the 
later consignments colonized in the orchards of Col. Dobbins and A. B. 
Chapman, Esq., of San Gabriel. About the middle of April, 1889, 
from the first small colonies established in the orchard of Mr, Wolf- 
skill, that gentleman. Prof. Coquillett and Mr. Alex. Craw commenced 
the work of distribution, and to their untiring zeal, faith, energy and 
public spirit, the State is greatly indebted for freeing us from the dead- 
liest menace that ever threatened the horticultural interests of this or 
any other community. From the orchards of Messrs. Chapman and 
Dobbins also, many colonies were distributed to surrounding groves, 
and in June the Los Angeles County Horticultural Commission estab- 
lished a central propagating station at the orchard of Mr. William Niles, 
on Washington street, from whence hundreds of colonies were sent out 
all over the county, and even to distant portions of the State. Thence- 
forward the work of annihilation of the hosts of Icerya was rapid and 
complete. As silent, as deadly, as mysterious, as came the Angel of 
Death to smite the countless hosts of Sennacherib, — 

" The ibeen of whoM spears shone like eXmra on the sea, 
Whea the blue waves roll DiBhtl; on deep Gallilee," 



12 



HISIORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTIIERN CALIFORNIA. 



^ 



BO silently and aliHost in a night, emote our beneflcent angel, St. 
Vedalia, tlie white and ghastly hoBte of terror that encompassed as 
round about, and they pasBed away and were not. Ere November'B 
raina, naught remained to remind ub of our deadly enemies save their 
white and filmy ehrouds that may be eeen to this day. fluttering in the 
breeze in every orchard, like flage of truce of vanquished armies that 
have passed away forever. 

With the disappearance of the white scale, also diBappeared the 
Vedalia, as that appears to be their natural and only food, and being 
cannibalistic in nature, the larva; attack and devour each other with 
alt the voracity and nonchalance of the denizens of " Darkest Africa." 
Yet the germs of both the Icerya and Vedalia appear to have survived 
during the winter in some mysterious and bidden manner, and both 
have reappeared during the present summer in many places, but ia 
very limited numbers. 

Recently the writer received a communication (and remittance) 
from Mr. Albert Jaeger, of Honolulu, Sandwich lelanda, stating that 
the white scale had made its appearance there about one year ago, and 
was already caueing great damage and consternation, and begging that 
a consignment of Vedalia should be immediately sent to them, which 
was done by last steamer. It is safe to say that never again will the 
pallid hosta of the Icerya be permitted to terrorize and devastate other 
lands as they once did our own, for the Vtdalia being " fittest," will 
aurvive and conquer. Then let us, like Miriam going forth before the 
hosts of Israel, sing songs of triumph and thankfulnesB for our deliv- 
erance, and forevermore keep in holy veneration the memory of our 
gracious lady, St. Vedalia. 



THE GREAT REAL ESTATE BOOM OF -1887. 

BY J. M, GUINN, 
IKud December. iB8g I 

The history of the paper cities and towns of Southern California may 
not be very interesting reading just now to their founders nor to the 
hosts of dupes who put their faith in the profuse promises of real estate 
sgent«, and their money in those paper cities ; but years hence when 
the deceivers and the dupes have passed away, some Macaulay will 
weave into history a story of our Southern California real estate bubble 
that will read like a romance. 

On the western side of our continent the word " boom " to express a 
Budden rise or inflation of values has superseded the older used and 
more expressive word — bubble. Boom — " to rush with violence," is 
better suited to express the dash, the impetuosity and the recklessness 
of Western speculators than the more effeminate term — bubble. Boom 
hag come into our literature to stay, however unstable it may be in 
other places. I use it in this paper in its Western sense — an abnormal 
activity — a reckless rush into speculations that promise lai^e returns 
from small outlays. 

It is scarcely two years since our great real estate boom bursted, yet 
its serio-comic and its tragic features, as well, are already half forgot- 
ten. A few years hence and even the actors in that comedy of errors 
will have forgotten all of it except the financial depression that followed 
the wild excesses of the booming days of '87, The little white stakes 
that marked the corners of the innumerable lots in the numerous paper 
cities and towns will have been buried by the plowshare, and the sites 
of the cities themselves forgotten. Lost to sight will be the cities, but 
to memory — expensive. 

In the archives of the County Recorder's office may be found the 
outlines of the history of the boom. It is a "true, full and correct" 
record of the plats of citii;s and towns — the record of subdivisions and 
re-subdivisions of lots, blocks and tracts in and additions to cities 
and towns — filling twenty large map books — the records of a single 
year — 1887. These are the merest skeletons of its history — the 
bony corpses of the boom so to speak. The embellishments are wanting 
— the literature dispensed broadcast by the founders of these cities and 
towns and their agents, the literature that described in well-rounded 
phrase, the advantages of these cities as future commercial emporiums 
and health resorts — that told of railroads, transcontinental and local, 




14 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERX CALIFORNIA. 

that were building for the especial benefit of these commercial centers 
— that lauded their beauty of scenery and their mildness of climate, 
all these are wanting — and those triumphs of the lithographer's art 
that embellished the literature of the boom are wanting too — the 
princely hotels, the massive business blocks, the avenues lined with 
tropical plants, and streets shaded with evergreens — all these are want- 
ing in the records. The literature of the boom perished with the boom — 
buried in waste baskets and cremated in kitchen stoves. 

Communities and nations as well, are subject at times to financial 
booms — periods when the mania for money-making seems to become 
epidemic. The 8outh-Sea bubble, the Darien colonization schemes, 
the Mississippi scheme of John Law, the Northern Pacific Railroad 
Bubble of Jay Cooke, have each been followed by financial panics and 
" Black Fridays," but the experience of one generation is lost on the 
succeeding. Experience as a school-master is too often a failure. 

The depression that followed the boom of 1874-76 continued until 
1881. The bursting of that boom was followed by several disastrous 
occurrences that served to prolong our financial miseries, to-wit : Com- 
mercial and bank failures, and a succession of dry years that ruined 
the sheep industry and reduced the grain producers to the verge of 
bankruptcy. The building of the Southern Pacific Railroad eastward 
gave us a new and better market fur our products in the mining regions 
of Arizona and New Mexico. The completion of this road gave us a 
new transcontinental route, and emigrants began to arrive. The price 
of land advanced steadily, and gradually we recovered from our finan- 
cial depression. Up till 1886 the growth of our cities and towns had 
kept pace with the growth and development of the surrounding country, 
the crying need for new cities and towns had not been heard. The 
merits of the country had been well advertised in the East. Excursion 
agents, real estate dealers, and the newspapers of Southern California, 
had depicted in glowing colors the salubrity of our climate, the variety 
of productions, the fertiUty of our soil, and the immense profit* to be 
made from the cultivation of semi-tropical fruits. The last link of the 
Santa Fe Railroad syatem was approaching completion. In the 
spring of 1886 a rate war was precipitated between the two transcon- 
tinental lines. Tickets from Missouri River points to Los Angeles were 
Bold all the way from $1 to *15. Visitors and immigrants poured in by 
thousands. The country was looking its loveliest. Leaving the ice and 
anowB of Iowa and Kansas in three days they found themselves in a 
land of orange groves, green fields and Hower-covered hills, In the new 
land they found everybody prosperous and happy, and these visitors 
returned to sell their possessions and come to the promised laod. 




I 



THE GREAT REAL ICSTATE BOOM OF 18S7. ]5 

The more immediate cauEes that precipitated our great real estate 
boom of 1887 may be brieHy enumerated as follows : 

First — The completion of a new transcontinental railroad line, and 
an era of railroad building and railroad projecting in Southern Cali- 
fornia. 

Second — High prices for all our products, an easy money market, and 
employment at high wages for all who wished employment. 

Third — An immunse immigration, largely attracted by reports of 
large profits made by speculating in real estate. 

Lastly — The arrival among us of a horde of boomers from western 
cities and towns — patriots, many of them, who Ifft their country for 
their country's good, fellows who left their conacicnces — that is if they 
had any to leave, on the other side of the Rockies. These profession- 
als had learned their trade in the boom cities of the West and were 
adepts in the tricks of real estate booming. They came here, not to 
build up the country, but to make money, honestly if they could not 
make it any other way, It is needless to say they made it the other 
way. 

During 1884-5-6 a number of tracts had been put upon the market, 
but these were mostly subdivisions of acreage within, or additions im- 
mediately adjoining the older and established cities and towns. Very 
few new townsites had been laid off previous to 1887. As the last link 
of the Santa Fe Railway system approached completion the creation 
of new towns began, and the rapidity with which they were created 
was truly astonishing. During the months of March, April and May, 
1887, no less than thirteen townsites were platted on the line of the Ij. 
A. & 9. B. R. R. alone, and the lots thrown upon the market. Before 
the close of 1387 between the eastern limits of Los Angeles city and 
the San Bernardino County line, a distance of thirty-six miles by the 
Santa Fe road, there were twenty-five cities and towns, an average of 
one to each mile and a half of the road. Paralleling the Santa Fe on 
the line of the Southern Pacific, eight more towns claimed the attention 
of lot buyers, with three more thrown in between the roads, making a 
grand total of thirty-six cities and towns in the San Gabriel Valley, 
The area of some of these was extensive. " No pent up Utica contracted 
the powers " of their founders. The only limit to the greatness of a city 
was the boundary lines of the adjoining city. The corporate linjits of 
the city of Monrovia was eight square miles, Pasadena with its additions 
the same, Lordsburg spread over eight hundred acres, Chicago Park 
numbered nearly three thousand lote, located in the wash of the San 
Gabriel River. The city of Azusa with iU villa tots and suburban 
farm lote, covered an area of four thousand acres. 

The founding of the city of Azusa was intended to satisfy a long felt 



i 



16 mSTORWAl SOCIETY OF SOVTHERS CALIFORSIA. 

want. The rich valley of the Azusa de Duarte had no commercial 
metropolis. AzuBa was recognized by real estate speculators as the 
commercial center of trade for the valley, and they saw, or at least 
thought they saw, money in the first pick of lots. The lots were to be 
put on sale on a certain day. Through the long hours of the night 
previous, and until nine o'clock of the day of sale, a line of hungry 
and weary lot buyers stood in front of the office where the lots were to 
be sold. Number two was offered a thousand dollars for his place in 
the line, number live claimed to have sold out for five hundred dollars, 
number one was deaf to all offers, and through the weary hours of the 
night clung to the " handle of the big front door," securing at last the 
coveted prize — the first choice. Two hundred and eighty thousand 
dollars worth of lots were sold the first day. The sale continued unin- 
terruptedly for three days. Not one in a hundred of the purchasers 
had seen the townsite, and not one in a thousand expected to occupy 
the land. 

£ven this performance was surpassed later on in the boom. The sale 
of lots in a certain town was to begin Wednesday morning. On Sun- 
day evening a line began to form, the agent discerning that if it con- 
tinued to lengthen through the intervening days, before the day of sale 
it would reach the Pacific Ocean, and some of the would-be investors 
might perish in the waves. With an eye to business he hired a hall for 
his customers. At stated intervals the line formed, the roll was called 
and woe to the unfortunate who failed to artswer to his number; his 
place in the line was forfeited and each one below moved up one space. 
The speculation proved a failure, the crowd was made up principally of 
impecunious speculators and tramps who hoped to realize by Belling 
out their places in the line. 

An enterprising newspaper man found a piece of unoccupied land on 
the line of the Santa Fe' Road — that is a piece not occupied by a town- 
Bite, and founded on it the city of Gladstone. An advertisement, pro- 
lific in promises of the future greatness of the city, and tropical in its 
luxuriance of descriptive adjectives proclaimed among other attractions 
that a lot had been deeded to the Premier of all England, and it was in- 
fsrred if not implied that the " grand old man " would build a princely 
residence on his lot, and lend himself as one of the attractions to draw 
dwellers to the new city- In olden times, when a conqueror wished to 
destroy a rival city, he razed it to the ground, caused the plowshare to 
pass over its ruins, and sowed the site with salt. The city of Gladstone 
was destroyed by the criticisms of a rival newspaper man, the plow- 
share passed over its ruins and the site was sown in barley. The en- 
terprising newspaper man lost his land, (he held it by contract only). 




^■the Burreyor who platted the town lost hie pav, and Gladstone lost his 
f lot. 

The fate of La Verne was equally tragic. It was located on the 
slope of the San Jose hills and Iwasted of a beautiful view. At one 
time it possessed a hotel, a business block, and several dwellings, its 
future was promising, but with the waning of the boom adversity struck 
it. Its founder was unable to pay out for the land on which it was 
built, a suit of foreclosure wub threatened and the houses would revert 
with the land. The citizens of Pomona were aroused one Sabbath 
morning by the harsh grating of many heavy wheels ; peeping through 
their shutters they beheld the city of La Verne moving down upon 
them — fleeing before the wrath of an outwitted creditor. 

The city of Carlton was one of the mighty cities of the boom. Its 
rise and fall, while not ae great an event in the world's history as the 
rise and fall of the Roman Empire, yet, nevertheless, its fall brought 
' financial disaster to many a descendant of the Roman, the Saxon, and 
the Gaul. Its site is described as commanding a beautiful view of the 
valley of the Santa Ana, with the Pacific Ocean in the distance. View 
was its only resource, the chief support and income of Its inhabitants ; 
and the prolific promises of its projectors its chief attraction. Railroads 
were to center there, manufactories were to rear their lofty chimneys, 
and the ever-present hotel in the course of erection was to be a palace 
of luxury for the tourist and a health restoring sanitarium to the one- 
lunged consumptive. Promises were cheap and plentiful, and so were 
the lots. They were started at *2.5 each for a lot twenty-five feet front, 
lose to 1-35, jumped to $50, and choice corners changed hands at from 
<100 to !(500. One enterprising agent sold three tbonsand and many 
others did their best to supply a long felt want — cheap lota. Capitalists, 
speculators, mechanics, day laborers, clerks and servant girls, crowded 
and jostled one another in their eagerness to secure choice lots in the 
coming metropolis. Business blocks, hotels, restaurants, saloons and 
dwelling houses lined the [Principal streets. A bank building with a 
cosily vault was constructed, a railroad line was surveyed through the 
I city and a few ties and rails scattered at intervals along the line. A 
population of three or four hundred congregated there at the height of 
the boom, and for a time managed to subsist in a semi-cannibalistic 
way on the dupes who came there to buy lots. The site of the city was 
on a barren foot-hill of the Santa Ana Mountains — even that very 
necessary article — water, had to be packed up the hill from the zanja. 
I The productive land lay far below in the valley, and the cities of the 
I plain absorbed all the trade. When the excursionist and the lot buyer 
L oeased to come, " picturesque Carlton," "Nature's rendezvous" as its 
( poetic founder styled it, was abandoned, and now the jack rabbit nib- 



THE GREAT REAL ESTATE BOOM OF ISS7 . 



V 



V 



18 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOVTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

blee the grass in its deserted slreetB, and the howl of the coyote and the 
hoot of the boding owl wake echoes in ite tenantlees houses. 

Of purely paper cities, Border City and Manchester are the beat il- 
lustrations. An unprincip'ed speculator by the name of Simon Hom- 
berg secured two quarter sections of railroad land situated respectively 
forty and forty-three miles in an air line north-east of Los Angeles 
city, These were the sites of Homberg's famous, or rather infamous 
twin cities. Border City was very appropriately named. It was lo- 
cated on the border of the Mojave desert on the north-eastern slope of 
the Sierra Madre Mountains. It was accessible only by means of a 
ba'looQ, and was as secure from hostile invasion as the homes of the 
cliff-dwellers. Its principal resource, like Carlton, was view — a view of 
the Mojave desert. The founder did not go to the expense of having 
the site surveyed and the lots staked off. He platted it by blocks and 
recorded his map. The streets were forty feet wide and the lots twenty- 
five feet front by one hundred deep ; the quarter section made nineteen 
hundred and twenty lots, an average of twelve to the acre. This Uom- 
berg discovered to be a waste of valuable land, and in laying out the 
city of Manchester he was more economical. Out of the quarter section 
on which that city was founded, he carved two thousand three hundred 
and four lots, about fourteen to the acre. All streets running east and 
west were 27 2-13 feet wide, and all streets running north and south 
were 34 2-7 feet wide — the lota were twenty-five feet front by ninety-five 
deep. Manchester was a city of greater resources than Border City — 
being located higher up the mountain, it had a more extended view of 
the desert. Homberg lK)Ught the land from the Railroad Company on 
contract, making a first payment of twenty-tive cents per acre. His 
lota coat hi m about two cents each. These lots were not oFTeied for sale 
in Southern California, but were extensively advertised in San Francisco, 
Northern California, Oregon and in the Eastern States. 

Judging from the records he must have sold about all of his four thous- 
and lots, and his profits must have footed up very nearly one hundred 
thousand dollars. So many of his deeds were filed for record that the 
County Recorder had a book of deeds containing three hundred and 
sixty pages, prepared with printed forms of Horaherg'a deed, eo that 
when one was filed for record all that was necessary to engross it was 
to fill in the name of the purchaser and the number of the lot and 
block. These lots were sold at all prices — from one dollar to two hun- 
dred and fifty dollars each, the price varying according to the means 
or the gullibility of the purchaser. One buyer would pay $250 for a 
single lot, the very next investor would get ten or a dozen for that sum. 
One enthusiast in San Jose invested a thousand dollars in forty- 
eight lots, evidently he was a believer in Mrs. Means' maxim: "While 



1 




THE GREAT REAL ESTATE BOOM OF 1887. 19 

you are a gitten, git a plenty." Nearly every State in the Union was 
represented in the city of Manchester, and England, Germany, Hol- 
land, Denmark and Sweden furnished Homberg dupes, 

The magnitude of the boom can be measured more accurately by a 
money standard than by any other. The total of the considerations 
named in the instruments filed for record during the year 1887 reached 
the enormous sum of S98,0S4,162. But even this does not tell half the 
story. By far the larger number of tots and blocks in the various tracts 
and townsitee that were thrown on the market were sold on contract — 
the tenns of payment being part cash, balance in six, twelve or eigh- 
teen months ; a deed to be given when final payment waa made. But 
few of the agreements were recorded. Frequently property bought on 
agreement to convey was re-sold from one to half a dozen times, and 
each time at an advance, yet the consideration named in the deed when 
given would be the sum named in the original agreement- Deeds to 
the great bulk of property sold on contract in 1887 did not go on record 
until the year following. Thousands of the contracts have been or will 
be forfeited, and never will appear on the records. It is safe to estimate 
that the considerations in the real estate transactions during 1887, in 
Los Angeles County alone, reached *200,000,000. Estimating the total 
amount of considerations in transfers in the counties of Ban Diego, 
San Bernardino, Ventura and Santa Barbara at the same amount, the 
real estate transactions of 1887 in Southern California reached 
*400,000,000. Could we have kept the boom running for another year, 
we would have made enough to pay off the national debt. 

So sudden an inflation of land values was, perhaps, never equaled in 
the world's history. When unimproved land in John Law's Mississippi 
I Colony sold for 30,000 livres ( i|'5,550 ) a square league, all Europe 
I was amazed, and historians still quote the Mississippi bubble as a mar- 
vel of inflation. To have bought a square league of land in the neigh- 
borhood of some of our cities in the booming days of 1887 would have 
taken an amount of money equal to the capital of the national bank 
of France in the days of John Law. Unimproved lands adjoining the 
1 city of Los Angeles sold as high as $2,500 per acre, or at the rate of 
I $14,400,000 a square league. Land that was sold at tlOO an acre in 
I 183o, changed hands in 1887 at $1,.500 per acre, and city lota bought 
[ in IS-^e at *500 each, a year later were rated at $5,000. Within the 
[ memory of not the oldest inhabitant, the San Pasqual rancho, contain- 
\ ing 13,000 acres, sold at fifty cents an acre. Pasadena and its numer- 
L-ous Buburbs are within the limits of that rancho. The price of a single 
\ lot in the business centre of Pasadena in 1887 would have bought ten 
I tucb rancbos at fifty cents an acre. 

I The great booms of former times, measured by a money standard, 
K;dwarf into insignificance when compared with oure. The capital stock 



20 niSTORlCAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERS CAUtOBSlA. 

of John Law's National Bank of France, with his MieslBsippi grants 
thrown in, figured up less than i^lS.OOO.OOO at the period of its greatest 
inflation, an amount about equal to our real estate transfers for one 
month, yet the bursting of John Law's bubble very nearly bankrupted 
the French Empire. 

The relative proportions of the South Sea bubble of 1720 to our real 
estate boom are as a soap bubble is to La Mountain's mammoth 
balloon, America. The amount of capital invested in the Darien col- 
onization scheme, a scheme which bankrupted Scotland and came near 
plunging all Europe into war, was only 220,000 pounds sterling, a sum 
about equal to our real estate transfers for one day. 

From a report compiled for the Los Angeles County Board of Equal- 
ization in July, 1889, I find the area included in sixty towns, all of 
which were laid out since January Ist, 1887, estimated at 79,350 acres. 
The total population of the sixty towns was at that time estimated at 
3,3o0. Some of the largest of these on paper had the smallest popu- 
lation. Chicago Park, containing 2,289 lots, had one inhabitant, the 
watchman who takes care of its leading hotel ; Sunset, 2.014 tots, one 
inhabitant, watchman of an expensive hotel ; Carlton, 4,060 lots, no 
inhabitants ; Manchester, 2,304 lots, no inhabitants ; Nadeau, 4,470 
lota, no inhabitants ; Santiago, 2,110 lots, a deserted village : St. James, 
1,161 lots, one livery stable, its proprietor and hostler; Rosecrans. 
Minneapolis, Studebaker City, La Verne, Broadacres, Walteria and 
Gladstone, fallen from their high estate. The plowshare has passed 
over their ruins, and barley grows in their deserted streets. 

Estimating five lots to the acre, the area included in these sixty 
cities and towns would make 400,000 lots of fifty feet front by one hun- 
dred and fifty feet deep. As many of these lots were but twenty and 
twenty-five feet front, the actual number of lots laid off in these towns 
was nearer 500,000. Allowing five inhabitants to the lot, there was 
room in these, without crowding, for a population of 2,000,000. The 
room is still there. Dividing the area included in the older cities and 
towns, with their numerous additions, into lots of the same size, and 
allofring the same number of inhabitants to the lot, we have town lots 
enough in this county already platted to supply a population of 
5,000,000, the population of I^ndon, and give each inhabitant 1.500 
square feet of breathing space. Applications are pending before the 
Board of Supervisors from the owners of six of these towns, asking the 
Board to order the streets vacated, and the town sites returned to 
acreage. A quarter of a century hence the exact location of many of 
these boom towns will be as entirely unknown to the people of that day 
as are the sit«a of Agua Mansa, Queen City, Santa Maria and Savana, 
buried cities of a quarter of a century ago, to the newcomers of our day. 

The methods of advertising the attractions of the various tracts a 



tracts and | 



I 



p 



THE GREAT REAL ESTATE BOOM OF 1887. 21 

BubdiviBionfl thrown on the market, and the devices reBorted to to m- 
'veigle purchasers into investing, were various, often ingenious and 
sometimes infamous. Brass hands, street processions, free excursions 
and free lunches, columns of advertisements, rich in description and 
profuse in promises that were never intended to be fulfilled, pictures of 
massive hotels in the course of erection, and lithographs of colleges of 
applied science — these were a few of the many devices and expedients 
resorted to to attract the attention of the credulous, and induce them to 
invest their coin. 

Few if any of the inhabitants to the manor born, or those of perma- 
nent residence and reputable character, engaged in these doubtful 
practices and disreputable methods of booming. The men who blew 
the bubble to greatest inflation were new importations, fellows of the 
baser sort, who knew little or nothing about the resources or character- 
istics of the country, and cared less. They were here to make money. 
When the bubble burst they disappeared — those who got away with 
their gains, chuckling over their illgotten wealth ; those who lost, 
abusing the country and villifying the people they had duped. Retrib- 
utive justice overtook a few of the most unprincipled boomers, and 
they have since done some service to the country iu striped uniforms. 
The collapse of our boom was not the sudden bursting of a financial 
bubble like the South Sea bubble, or John Law's Mississippi bubble, 
nor did it end in a financial crash like the panics of 1837 and 1857, or 
like Black Friday in Wall street. Its collapse was more like the steady 
contraction of a balloon from the compression of the heavier atmos- 
phere outside. It gradually shriveled up. The considerations named 
in the transfers for the first three months of 1888 exceeded *20,000,000. 
After that they decreased rapidly. In a less fruitful country, and with 
a less hopeful and self-reliant people, the collapse of such a boom 
would have resulted in complete financial ruin and untold suffering. 

When the boom had become a thing of the past, those who had kept 
aloof from wild speculation, pursued the even tenor of their ways, build- 
ing up the real cities and improving the country. Those who had 
invested recklessly in paper cities plowed up the sites of prospective 
palace hotels and massive business blocks, and sowed them in grain, or 
planted them with trees, or they sought some other employment by 
which they could earn their bread and butter, sadder, and it is to be 
hoped, wiser men. There was for a time a stringency in the money 
market, but even this proved a blessing in disguise. It compelled to 
more economic methods of living, and impelled the people to greater 
efforts to develop the resources of the country. On the whole, with alt 
its faults and failures, with all its reckless waste and wild extrava- 
'Ipuice, our boom was more productive of good than of evil to Southern 
California. 



HTSTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN 
LOS ANGELES COUNTY. 

BY KEV. JOaE ADAU, VICAB GENERAL. 

The name of Lob Angeles ie probably derived from the fact that the 
expedition by land, in search of the harbor of Monterey, paesed through 
this place on the 2nd of August, 1769, a day when the Franciecan 
iiiisaionarieB celebrate the feast of Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles — '" Our 
Lady of the Angela." 

This expedition by land, left San Diego July 14, 1769, and reached 
here on the first of August, when they killed for the first time some 
berrendos or antelope. On the 2nd they saw a large stream with much 
good land, which they called Porziuftcula, on account of commencing on 
that day the jubilee called Porziuficula granted by the Lord to St. 
Francis, while praying in the little church of Our Lady of the AngeU 
near Assisi, in Italy, commonly called Delia PorziuncuUa from a ham- 
let of that name near by. 

January of nest year saw this expedition on their return to 8an 
Diego, which place they reached on the 2lBt of April of that year, 1770. 
Governor PortoH with Father Crespi, and some soldiers were seen again 
by the Indians that inhabited these plains and mountains. As Lofl 
Angeles owes its existence to the establishment of San Gabriel Mission, 
in giving the religious history of Los Angeles, we cannot omit San 
Gabriel. 

On the 6th of August 1771, Fathers Pedro Cambon and Angel 
Tom^re, accompanied by ten soldiers and some muleteers, left the port 
of San Diego, and proceeded north to establish the Mission of San 
Gabriel. After traveling for forty leagues, they halted near the river of 
Los Temhlores, so-called by the first expedition, on account of the se- 
vere earthquakes they experienced passing through this place. The 
river was afterwards called River San Gabriel, which name it still re- 
tains. 

The site selected for the establishment of the mission was about 
three miles from the present one, and is now included in the ranch of 
Mr. Richard Garvey. The ruins of the former buildings can yet be 
aeen. The first mass was celebrated there under green bowers on the 
8th of September, 1771, being the feast of the nativity of the Virgiit 
Mary. 



r 



t 



HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHUIiCII. 23 

A temporary chapel and huts for the padres and soldiers were erected 
the whole protected by a stockade, the gentiles (Indiana) having cut 
the lumber and made themaelvea generally useful. 

While the best harmony was prevailing between gentiles and Chris- 
tians, an event took place, which nearly destroyed that good beginning. 
A soldier having insulted the wife ot one of the captains, this man con- 
ceived the idea of avenging himself and his wife of the insult received. 
He inrited all the Indians around to join him. When the two guards 
saw such a crowd of armed Indians coming toward them, they buckled 
on in a hurry their leathern jackets, and prepared themselves for de. 
fense. The offender shot dead the leader, who happened to be the out- 
raged captain, and all the others fled in terror. 

A few days after, the commanding officer with two priests reached this 
place on their way to establish the Mission of .San Buenaventura ; and 
fearing another attack from the Indians, he left sixteen soldiers here, 
and brought with him to Monterey the guilty soldier to take him out of 
the eight of the Indians. On this account the establishment of the 
Mission of San Buenaventura was frustrated for the time being, and 
four missionaries remained at San Gabriel, the former two however, re- 
tiring soon to Mexico on account of poor health. 

The Fathers tried with some success to conciliate the Indians; and 
■within two years seventy-three children were baptized ; and at the 
death of Father Junfpero-Serra, they numbered 1019. 

Father Serra after having founded the missions of San Diego, Car- 
melo, San Antonio, and San Luis Obispo, in September, 1772, visited 
thatof San Gabriel, the only one which he had not established person- 
ally, and he was delighted to find there already so many converts. 

In 1776, after having rebuilt the Mission of San Diego, which had 
been destroyed by the insurgent tribes. Father Junipero Serra once 
more visited the Misflion of San Gabriel, after having established that 
of San Juan Capistrano, eighteen leagues distant from the latter. 

It was on this occasion that Father Junipero had a very narrow es- 
cape. On his way from San Gabriel to San Juan, accompanied only 
by an Indian, who served as interpreter, and by a soldier, he encountered 
a band of Indians all painted and well armed. The interpreter told 
them in their language that many soldiers were coming betiind, who 
would kill them if they committed any hostile acts. Father Junipero 
made them some presents and thus pacified them. 

The General Commander of California, Don Teodoro Croix, anxious 
to comply with the wishes of the Viceroy, concerning the foundation of 
some missions, and a presidio on the channel of Santa Barbara, sent Cap- 
tain Fernando Rivera to recruit seventy-five soldiers in Ariepe, and at the 
came time to procure families in order to form a pueblo or town to be 



L 



24 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTUERS CALIFOHSJA. 

named after " Kuestra BeRora de Lob Angeles," near the bank of the 
River Forziuncula, now the Los Angeles River. 

At the same time the Commander asked for some mipsionariea to ee- 
tabliah two misaions on the river " Colorado " for the conversion of the 
Indiana of that region, and to secure the pasB newly discovered through 
Colorado to these missions of Alta California, 

The Captain began to get recruits in Sinaloa and Sonora. Thoee 
from Sonora he brought with him by way of the Colorado River. Oa 
his arrival therp, as he found the miesions already established, and ob- 
served that hia horses and mules were very poor, and fearing they 
would die before reaching San Gabriel, eighty leagues distant, he re- 
mained there with six soldiers, and sent the recruits with their officers 
and soldiers and others to San Gahriel. 

The Ctovernor had arrived at the Mission of San Gabriel a long time 
before to receive the troops that were coming up from Ix}wer California, 
and there he received this last portion that came from the Colotado 
River. He sent back the Lieutenant with the nine veterans belongiDg 
to Soflora, who arriving at the Colorado river, were told the father and 
soldiers had been killed by the Indians. They could scarcely beliert 
it, til! with their own eyes they saw the mission buildings reduced to 
ashes and the corpses lying here and there unburied. He loet two sol- 
diers, and with another wounded he hastened back to San Gabriel 
and informed the Governor what had happened. 

The Governor, fearing that the Indians between here and the Color- 
ado river would rise against the new settlers, remained with hia troop* 
at San Gabriel, meanwhile arranging to lay the foundation of a town, 
(Pueblo de Espafioles) near the river Porciuncula, so named by the 
first expedition. He called together all the new settlers, that had come 
to establish themselves here, assigning to each of them a place and 
lands near the river distant four leagues from the Mission of San 
Gabriel. These new settlers were accompanied by a corporal and 
three soldiers, and in this way was founded the town of Los Angeles to- 
wards the end of 1781, They lived off their own crops, observes Father 
Palou, and were subjected to the inconvenience of traveling four leagues 
to attend mass. 

A few months later, March 1 5th, the Very Rev. Father Junipero, after 
having made thirteen leagues on foot, arrived very late at this new 
pueblo of Ix>s Angeles, where he slept that night. The next morning 
he left for San Gabriel, where he arrived fasting and tired, but in spite 
of this he ordered the bells to be rung, and sang the mass in honor of 
St. Joseph, whose feast the church celebrates on that day. 

Some days after, the new settlers of Los Angeles were agreeably sur- 
prised when they saw a brilliant expedition of soldiers and people 



r 



» 



HISTORY OF TBE GATBOLIO CHURCH. 25 

going to lay the foundations of San Buenaventura and Santa Barbara. 
The expedition wae composed of seventy Boldiers, with the oflicerp and 
the Governor ; also ten more soldiers, with their families, and some 
Christian Indians ; of priests, only two accompanied them, Father 
Junipero and Father Cambon. 

The next year, 1783, the venerable Father Junipero, for the last time, 
visited the missions of the south, and passed through Los Angeles 
towards the end of the year on his way to Monterey, making the one 
hundred and seventy leagues from San Diego to Monterey on foot at 
the age of seventy years. 

Where Buena Vista street is now open north on the hill, there stood 
B chapel from the year 1784 until 1812, where a Franciscan friar from 
Ban Crabriel said mass every Sunday and on holy days, for the accom- 
modation of the settlers and their families. 

The present church which stands on the plaza was built between the 
years 1812 and 1815, and was enlarged and restored as it is seen at the 
present in the year 1862, under the pastorate of Father Bias Rabo. 

The missions were under the control of the Franciscan fathers till 
the year 1833, when by a decree of the Mexican Congress they were 
secularized. The Mission of San (iabriel, as well as the other mis- 
sions, dwindled from over a thousand Indians to a few hundred. A 
like diminution was observed in the cattle and general products of the 
country. 

San Gabriel Mission counted as many as three thousand Indians, 
one hundred and five thousand cattle, twenty thousand horses and 
more than forty thousand sheep, together with harvest returns of 
twenty thousand fanegas" ( over 30,000 bushels ) of different species of 
grain, and five hundred barrels of wine and brandy. During the civil 
administration the Indians were reduced to five hundred, the cattle to 
seven hundred, horses to five hundred, and so on. Attached to this 
mission, and formed for the benefit of the natives, were seventeen ex- 
tensive ranches. Two hundred pairs of bullocks and several hundred 
Indians were constantly employed in tilling the land. Under the 
paternal tutelage of the fathers, the Indians felt happy and prosperous. 

In the treasury of the San Gabriel Mission, at the time of confisca- 
tion were one hundred thousand piasters,! and in the warehouses, fur 
the use of the natives, as much as two hundred thousand francs' worth 
of European merchandise, which all fell into the hands of the admin- 
istration, and was appropriated by them. 

In 1835 the Congress of the Mexican Republic, of which Santa Ana 
became President, restored to the Roman CatboUc Church, by a formal 

'9 of an English biuhel. 



26 nrsTonicAL societt of sovTHEny caufornu. 

act of the national legislature, the property belonging to the missione, 
of which it bad been deprived in 1832. 

The flame well-diBpoaed Congrcsa determined to put Upper and 
Lower California under the care of a resident bishop, and Don Garcia 
Diego was appointed to the position by His Holiness, Gregory XVI. 
He was the first Bishop of California, a man of great talent, a Mexican 
by birth, and well acquainted with these missions, as he was Com- 
DUBsary Prefect of Upper California at the time of hie appointment 
On the 11th of January, 1842, he landed at Santa Barbara, where he 
was received with great enthuBiasm, He died there in 1846, and the 
Very Rev. Father Gonzalez was appointed to administer the estate 
until 1850, when Dr. Alemany was nominated as Bishop of Monterey. 
He brought with him the Dominican religious orders of both eexe«. 

An California increased in population very rapidly on account of the 
discovery of gold, the Holy See raised Dr. Alemany to the dignity of 
Archbishop of San Francisco, and selected Dr. Amat as Bishop of 
Monterey, Right, Rev. Thaddeus Amat was born in Barcelona, Spain, 
in 1810. He was rector of the Seminary of the Lazariste in Cape 
Girardeau, and afterwards of the Seminary of Philadelphia. He was 
consecrated as bishop in the Church of the Propaganda in Rome in 
1854. He resided in Santa BarVmra for some time, but foreseeing that 
the city of I/OB Angelee had a great future, he petitioned the Holy See 
for permission to make this place his permanent residence, and to be 
called Bishop of Los Angeles. Rome granted the petition, but with, 
the condition that he should retain also the title of Monterey, and there- 
after be was known as Bishop of Monterey and Los Angeles. 

With his energetic zeal he had the consolation of seeing linished the 
new cathedral of St. Vibiana, in 1876. Perceiving that his health was 
failing, he asked for a coadjutor to he appointed, and selected for 
that important position his vicar general, the Very Rev. Francis Mora. 
Dr. Mora was consecrated in 1873, with great jubilation on the part of 
the clergy and laity, being highly revered by all. Under his admlntB- 
tration many schools, colleges and academies have been established. 

From a small chapel in the last year of the last century, Loa Angeles 
can boast now of a Roman Catholic cathedral, the old church of Our 
Lady of the Angels, the new church of St. Vincent, the German 
[ Church and that of the Sacred Heart in course of erection in East 
i Los Angelee. 



FROM ST. LOUIS TO SAN FRANCISCO IN 1850. 



BY J. B. CLARK. 



Walking down Fourth street, St. Louis, December lOth, 
several posters which read ; 



WANTED. 
I to work on the Panmma Rulroad. Fai« paid ta the 
e to go lo CaJifomia, and arrive with iDonej in jour 
J. C. CAKDWELL, Agent. 



One ihonsnnd able-bodied me 
Isthmus, and an eicellent chan 
pockets. 

Signed, CoL. Ed. Bakeb. 

Deeming that a golden opportunity In a double sense, I made appli- 
cation as an able-bodied man, was accepted as such, and put my name 
to the contract " to work one hundred days on the railroad, actual 
service," the company not allowing for any loss of time for sickness 
or other disability in that deadly climate. In remuneration we were 
to receive each twenty dollars in gold coin, a pair of good all-wool 
blankets, and a steerage fare to San Francisco. 

It is to me a mournful remembrance to realize that but very few of 
those " able-bodied " men lived to work out their hundred days, 

As nearly aa I can recollect, on the morning of December I7th, we 
were called to rally our forces by that good old tune which inspires the 
heart of every true American, " Yankee Doodle," played only as it can 
be on fife and snare drum. Our company being formed in single file, 
as each man passed the office door, the secretary took bis name and 
number, and put his check to the roll, and then gave to the recruit his 
accoutrements, consisting of a leather strap, tin plate, cup, knife, fork 
and spoon, regimentals that would have been more serviceable had our 
commissary been amply supplied with even the old miner's famous slap- 
jacks and good pork and beans. Bub to the eternal disgrace of the firm 
of Aspinwall & Co., such was not the case, as will appear further on. 

After all preliminaries were over, we formed double file, and under a 
temporary captain, keeping time with the slow tap of the drum, we 
marched to the deck of an old cotton barge, and at 4 p. m. took a last 
view of St. Louis, and slowly steamed our way down the river. Nothing 
occurred on the trip to mar the excitement of the journey, more than 
a few fights among the roughs, and two of the worst of the gang being 
arrested for chicken stealing at the notorious place called " Natchez, 
iinder the Hills," 



28 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFOBIflA. 

Arriving at New Orleaus on the morning of the 23d, we were 
aiarched to the Third Municipality, and in a large zinc warehouse were 
quartered under guard, there to await orders from New York, which 
arrived the night of the 29th. One of the guards being my traveling 
companion, I was permitted to go outside of the gates, under the pre- 
tence of wanting to procure a few neceasaries for ray sojourn upon the 
IsthoiUB, which was only a ruse to desert from as reckless a gang of 
men as ever walked in line or rolled a blanket. During the night I put 
on two suits of clothes, rolled up a good-sized bundle over a few keep- 
sakes, then under pretence of going to a laundry, induced the guard to 
let me pass, and when outside the line, I mentally said, " Adieu." But 
on the day of the ship's sailing, by the entreaties of Dr. Baker, brother 
of the colonel, I entered into a new contract with the company, epecl- 
fying that I was to hold an official position, namely : For a stated 
salary for one year or more, to act as surgeon's assistant, and superin- 
tend the drug department and general hospital, which required a oom- 
ber of assistants to do the work. 

On the morning of January Ist, 1850, when snow was one inch deep 
on the wharves of New Orleans, our men were called to march to the 
ocean steamer, under an escort of city police, to keep the recruits from 
deserting. "All aboard," we crossed the bar about 4 o'clock, p. ». 
After a rough voyage of five days, we cast anchor in the mouth of 
Ghagres River, in five fathoms of green slime and debris. Awaiting 
the next flood tide and the arrival of the natives with their canoes, we 
were landed on the mud flats by 10 o'clock at night Owing to the 
dampness of the ground we could not spread our blankets, but found 
them very useful to shield our standing bodies from the dense fog. At 
early daybreak, about a hundred men under the command of Mr. 
King, the superintendent, who met us at the embarcadero, we took to 
the champans, or native boats of ths New Granadians, and slowly 
wended our way up the crooked river, camping on the banks one night, 
and landing at our destination, Bogiosoldado, in time for a late break- 
fast, comprising one round of dishes, with bill of fare to please a king, 
had he been in our condition, for we had not enjoyed half & square 
meal since leaving New Orleans. 

In the language of Jack the Sailor, old hardtack, roasted yama, 
half-cooked salt horse and coffee were quite enough to keep a man 
from starving, even if the coffee was 6avored with the green water of 
the Chagres, and minus milk or sugar. After this frugal repast all 
bands were piped into line by a blast on a dinner horn. Colonel 
Baker and assistant called the roll and entered name, nativity and 
residence of the whole company upon the time-book. Then each man 
had bis choice of the squad to which he would belong, either n 



1 




r 



FROit ST. LOUIS TO SAN FRANCISCO. 1850. 29 

men, pickmen, shovelmen or barrowmeo. Then Colonel Baker selected 
from each Bquad a captain to act as time-keeper and foreman of hie 
gang. 

After addressing the regiment, imploring all to obey their officera, to 
be induBtrioue, sober, orderly, and do all in their power to advance the 
mutual intereBts of employer and employee, orderB were given to spend 
the rest of the day in recreation. During that afternoon and evening 
the camp was made joyful by Bong and story, and music upon violin, 
flute and banjo to the tunes of " Dan Tucker," " Arkansaw Traveler," 
*' Home, Sweet Home," and " Yankee Doodle," with variations. 

The next day, which I think nas January 10th, ground was cleared, 
tents pitched and the cook-house erected. Within ten days the o&icerB 
quarters and hospital were built. In fact our camp was all in good 
order for grading the railroad from Gatun Station to Gorgona. Another 
steamer had arrived with more provisions and an ample supply of 
drugs ; also a quota of hospital supplies, branded " Cognac," etc., 
articles deemed essential for all officers acting under military orders. 

Our commissary also received two tons of Hour, but how to bake it 
to bread for four to five hundred m«n was a question that puzzled our 
best philosopher, we having no bricks to construct an oven. This dif- 
ficulty, however, was overcome by a Western pioneer, who constructed 
three large ovens out of mud brought from Chagres, laid on a pile of 
brush, and then burning out the brush, a crust or shell being formed, 
and then more mud being put on and the whole being burnt to a solid 
brick oven. 

Our men bad not worked over two weeks in that scorching sun until 
many of those apparently the most able bodied were falling sick with 
the iBthmus fever, those possessing the least vitality seeming to be the 
fittest to survive the malarial poison. In a few weeks fifty to one hun- 
dred were in the hospital, out of a camp numbering less than five hun- 
dred men. By the first of April we were burying from five to ten per 
day. Our supply of lumber giving out, the bodies were laid in pits, 
three or more side by aide, like soldiers after battle. Reading the 
abridged burial service of the Snglish Church was abolished, as the 
officer (myself) appointed to that duty was unable to withstand the ex- 
cessive heat. 

Many of the laborers wore no clothing, nothing but blue overalls 
and striped cotton shirts, for which they paid the railroad company an 
exorbitant price in extra work. The perpendicular rays of the torrid 
sun penetrated deep into the flesh, burning worse than fire. The men 
were so anxious to put in their time, many of them did not succumb 
to their torture until their scalded backs were full of the pupa depos- 
ited by the green fly. 



30 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

After the poor fellows came to the hospital for relief, we could onljr 
add pain to misery by a copious application of epirits of camphor or 
turperttine to destroy the pupa. In many cases gangrene relieved the 
sufferer by death. Another great annoyance to our men was the 
jiggers, another pupa evolved from the eggs of a small fly deposited 
under the toe nails. This little intruder must be ousted upon the point 
of a lance, or he will get up au irritation that will cause the limbs to 
swell, and if the blood is in an abnormal condition, be likely to put the 
man on crutehes, if not in care of a doctor. 

The numerous death-bed scenes we witneased proved to us the truthi 
implied in the sayings: " Early impressions are permanent." "The 
ruling passion is strong in death." Our company represented varioua 
nations, tongues jtnd creeds. During the last moments of life the Jew 
talked in Hebrew to his Messiah, and died with his Talmud under hii 
pillow. The Mohammedan prayed to Allah, and the Spirit of Mo- 
hammed. The Christian begged his God for mercy, and asked for the 
interceasloii of Christ and the Blessed Virgin. Young men died, some 
calling on Christ, some on a loving mother, some asking to see a dear 
sister, others seeing in imagination their distant loved one. Many 
died saying in their last moments they had no knowledge or anxiety 
as to the future, this life being their only care, and mildly asking us to 
inform their friends of their death. We did so to the best of our 
ability. 

The atmosphere at early sunrise being very sultry, many of th« 
officers found a retreat underneath a large projecting rock on the bank 
of the river, where we put in the time awaiting breakfast by throwing 
pebbles at the saw-back alligators. 

Dr. Baker, who was a man of jovial heart and a late riser, would 
often amuse the crowd by walking out to the edge of the rock, and 
calling out to us, "Boys, boys, quinine, quinine!" which signified tha 
meal was ready, when all " the boys " were to pour out the usual doee of 
the bitter drug into the palm of their hands, and thus taking it, warh 
it down with a swallow of brandy. Any deviation from this estab- 
lished rule was an offence against the law, worthy the penalty of a fins 
to swell the treasury for purchasing dainties from the natives. 

Passengers going to and from California often camped with us over 
night, which added much to the few pleasures we enjoyed. The inci- 
dents related of ladies crossing the mountains astride a lazy donkey 
were often ridiculously amusing. So was the voyage in a champan 
with a black, naked pilot and howsman. 

The writer having many leisure hours, spent much time viewing the 
beautiful scenery, rambling among the palm, plantain, baaaDO, dal«, 
cocoanut and rubber trees. Many hours were whiled away in slad]^ 



FROM SI. LOniS TO SAy FBAyCLSCO, 1850. 31 

ing the habits and wonderful intelligence of the parrots, paroquets, 
monkeys and the eoldier ants. No one was permitted to molest these 
pets. The hirda and monkeys soon learned that we were not their 
enemies. The sound of the dinner horn brought numbers of them to 
our camp to gather up the refuse from tables, and often stray knives, 
forks, or spoons, were seen leaving the camp in possesaioD of those 
little rogues. 

If we desired a fresh cocoanut, we threw small stones at the monkeys, 
and they, in eptteful imitation, threw down cocoanute at us. Strange 
as it may sctm, the inventive genius of these creatures was proven by 
seeing them place a rock by the foot of a tree, and throwing a cocoanut 
from the branches upon the rock, break the shell, and thus give food to 
their mates, who, in return, will show more love and gratitude than 
some bipeds, by keeping back the best half for their wivea. We often saw 
a ring-tail sharpen a stick and drill a bole in the edge of a nut, and 
give it to her young to drink the milk, and a good cuffing was the con- 
sequence of any careless waste. 

We found the soldier ant, so called by our company, a very inter- 
eatiog study ; one that impressed us with the philosophy of the Scrip- 
tural injunction, " Go to the ant, thou sluggard," etc. These little red 
insects, no larger than the common black house ant of the North, exhibit 
a knowledge of military tactics equal to a trained battalion of broom- 
rangers. They have a chief officer and subordinates, their sappers and 
miners, their carpenters and their masons Each department is ably 
superintended by a captain or foreman. 

I clasa these knowing little creatures with the Myrmica rvhra, of 
Gould, in color, and with the Termtema heilicocug, of Huber, in habit. 

A long article could be written describing these wonderful little 
workers. 

The king ant, the general of the colony, is much larger than the oth- 
ers. He marches at the head of the battalion, or stations himself on a 
prominence to overlook the passing columns. When he throws up hia 
antenna?, the whole army stops as by magic, he calls his aubordinates 
and they obey hia orders. The sappera and miners grade the roads 
which are about six inches wide, removing every obstruction, making 
it ai BMooth ae a paved walk, avoiding short curves and filling the 
cavities. When the workers take to the road those going for burdena 
take the right of the trail, and thoae loaded return on the other side. 
Thus like good teamsters, they never come in collision. 

If we obstructed their trail with a atoue, the officer ordered a halt 
and made an examination. Then the workers began to undermine the 
stone and sink it below the grade, then smooth the road, and then join 
the ranks, and after orders resume the march. The carpenters (or 
woodsmen) remained in the treea &om sunrise to sunset, trimming the 



32 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 1 

leaf, and dropping the pulpy part, for the packers to take to the stem- 
room. The masons work under a boss mechanic. They mix the clay 
and gand, and lay up the wallE of the houBe, and thatch the roofs. I 
have often Been the foreman stop the work when the walls were caving 
at the tops, then the hands would tear down the work and rebuild it 
with a more perpendicular angle. 

These anta also can compute time ; for if the road of one colony 
crosses that of another, they very seldom come in contact, one train pass- 
ing before the other arrives. But if they do meet, war is declared, the 
dead are buried, and the spoils are confiscated. 

During the summer months, and part of the rainy season, oar men 
were dying so fast, it was impossible to keep up the squads to a requis- 
ite number of hands. White races could not stand the climate. Ja- 
maica and Carthagena were the only sections wherein to get recruits, 
and they would not work during the middle of the day. We were 
burying seventeen per day at each station, Gatun and Navy Bay. The 
unwholesome food furnished by Aspinwall & Co. had much to do with 
the loss of life. The poor laborers were forced to subsist upon musty 
sea-biscuitfl or heavy bread made of poor Hour. The only meat was 
bad corned beef, or rusty pork, that was condemned as food unfit for 
sailors use, bought of the ship chandlers in New York. Most of the 
time the only vegetable diet was the dry, insipid yams raised by the 
natives. Usually the commissary was out of vinegar. A few men had 
a little money to buy green oranges, which they ate freely to ward off 
the scurvy, but in fact only acted as a promotive of a worse disease — 
the deadly fever. 

Out of one thousand men who left the eastern shores under the oue- 
hundred-day contract, nine-tenths left their hones on the Isthmatf, as 
buried mementoes of "Man's inhumanity to man" in order that he may 
acquire the almighty dollar. 

All honor to that noble man with whom I messed for months, CoL 
Ed. Baker. These acts do not tarnish his name. 

Had Aspinwall & Co., fulfilled their contract with him, many noble 
hearts would now be living to throb in kind remembrance over the 
grave of the gallant General who died a martyr for his country. 

Our contract being fulfilled we were in waiting for a steamer from 
Panama to Pan Francisco. About the 15th of April we boarded the 
old steamship "Northerner," bound for the Golden Gale, with twelve 
hundred passengers. 

We arrived on the memorable morning of May 4, 1S51, and found 
San Francisco enveloped in dame and smoke with all her main streets 
in ashes. Yet with all that unpleasant reception we were full of joy lo 
know we again stood upon a land over which wave the stare and 
stripes. 



EXCEPTIONAL YEARS. 



IIBTOKY OP CALIFORNIA FLOO^B AND DRODOHT, 
BY J. M. GL'INN. 



If there is one characteriBtic of hia State, of which the true Califor- 
iiian is prouder than another, it is its climate. With his tables of mean 
temperature and records of cloudless daye and gentis sunshine, he is 
prepared to prove that California has the most glorious climate in the 
world. Should the rains descend and the floods prevail, or should the 
heavens become as brass, and neither the former nor the latter rains 
fall, these climatic extremes, he excuses on the plea of exceptional 
years. It is with the record that these exceptional years have made 
that I propose to deal in this paper, Kquable conditions, whether cli- 
matic or social, have nothing of the tragic in them, and history delights 
in the tragic. While Central and Southern California have been about 
equally affected by fioods and droughts, my record of their effects ap- 
plies principallj' to Southern California. 

For the first fifty years after the settlement of California the weather 
reports are very meagre. The padres had no Signal Service Bureau 
and compiled no meteorological tables of atmospheric phenomena, 
although the state of the weather was undoubtedly a topic of deep 
interest to the pastoral people of California. To the dons and the 
padres, with their cattle on a thousand hills, and their flocks and herds 
spread over the plains, an abundant rainfall meant prosperity ; a dry 
season death to their flocks and consequent poverty. We can imagine 
with what anxiety they scanned the heavens for rain si^ns as the 
waning months of the rainy season passed away, leaving but a scanty 
supply of moisture. The weather prophet, with his portents and omens, 
was without honor at such times. A flood might be a temporary evil, 
but like the overflow of the Nile, a year of plenty always followed ; 
whilst the dreaded dry year was an evil unmixed with good. 

The earliest record of a flood that I have l>een able to find is a brief 
mention of one that occurred in 1811. In 1815 occurred a great flood 
that materially changed the course of the Los Angeles River within the 
city limits. The river abandoned it« former channel and flowed west 
of the auertes or planting fields of the first settler, its new channel 
followed very nearly the present line of Alameda Street. The old 
fields were washed away or covered with sand, and new fields were 
located in what is now the neighborhood of San Pedro Street. In 1825 



34 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORSIA. 

it again left its bed and drifted to the eastward, forming ita present 
channel. In 1822 occurred a flood, when the wateri covered the low- 
lands entirely and rose to a greater height than ever before known. 
The intervening years between 1822 and 1825 were in all probability 
years of abundant rainfall. In 1825 occurred a memorable 6ood 
which effected a great change in the physical contour of the country 
west of Loa Angeles City. Col. J. J. Warner, in his historical sketch 
of Los Angeles County, saye r " In 1825 the rivers of this county were 
so swollen that their beds, their banks and the adjoining lands were 
greatly changed. At the date of the settlement of Lob Angeles City a 
large portion of the country from the central part of the city to the tide 
water of the sea, through and over which the Los Angeles River now 
finds its way to the ocean, was largely covered with a forest, interspersed 
with tracts of marsh. From that time until 1825 it was seldom, if in 
any year, that the river discharged, even during the rainy season, it* 
waters into the sea. Instead of having a river-way to the sea the waters 
spread over the country, filling the depressions in the surface and 
forming lakes, ponds and marshes. The river water, if any, that reached 
the ocean, drained off from the land at so many places, and in such 
small volumes, that no channel existed until the flood of 1825, which, 
by cutting a river-way lo tide water, drained the marsh land and 
caused the forests to disappear." 

The flood of 1825 changed the course of the Santa Ana River also. 
Previous to that year the Santa Ana entered the ocean several miles 
to the northwest of its present channel. These floods were followed, 
1827-28-29, by a terrible drought. During the preceding years of 
abundant rainfall and consequent luxuriant pasturage, the cattle ranges 
had become overstocked. When the drought set in the cattle died by 
thousands on the plains, and ship-loads of their hides were shipped in 
the "hide-droghers" from San Pedro. 

The flood of 1832, although the waters did not rise as high as in the 
floods of 1822 and 1825, effected considerable change in the contour of 
the country south of the city. Col. Warner says : " The flood of 1832 
80 changed the drainage in the neighborhood of Compton and the 
northeastern portion of the San Pedro ranch that a number of lakes 
and ponds, covering a large area of the latter ranch, lying north and 
northwesterly from Wilmington, which to that date had been permanent, 
became dry in a few years thereafter." The drainage of these ponds 
and lakes completed the destruction of the forests that Col. Warner 
Bays covered a large portion of the south and west of the city. These 
forests were in all probability willow thickets or copse, the same as 
were found, until quite recently, on the low grounds near the month of 
the Santa Ana and in the swampy lands of the San Gabriel River. In 



I 



EXCEPTlOyAL YEARS. 85 

1842 occurred another flood, BimilRr to that of 1832, Thia was followed 
by the drought of 1844-45—46, with its usual accompaniment of Htarv- 
ing cattle and horses. 

In January, 18.50, the " Argonauts of '49 " had their first experience 
of a California flood. The valley of the Sacramento was like an inland 
sea, and the city of Sacramento became a second Venice. But, instead 
of gondolas, the honest miners navigated the submerged streets in 
wagon-boxes, bakers' troughs, crockery crates, and on rafts made of 
whisky-kegs. Whisky in hogsheads, whisky in barrels and whisky in 
kegs floated on the angry waters, and the gay gondolier, as he paddled 
through the streets, drew inspiration for his song from the bung-hole of 
his gondola. 

The flood of 1851 and 1852 brought disaster to many a mining camp, 
and financial ruin to many an honest miner. A warm rain melted the 
deep snows on the Sierras, and every mountain creek became a river 
and every river a lake. "Each gorge and gulch was transformed into 
a tumultuous water-course that descended the hillsides, tearing down 
giant trees, and scattering its drift and debris along the plain." The 
wing dams and the cofi^er dams that the miners had spent months in 
constructing were swept away, and floated off toward China, followed 
by the vigorous damns of the disappointed gold hunters. In Southern 
California the flood was equally severe, although the damage was less 
than in the mining districts. This flood was characterized by an 
unprecedented rainfall in the mountains. At old Fort Miller, near 
the head waters of the San Joaquin River, according to a record kept 
by Dr. W. F. Edgar, surgeon of the post (now of Los Angeles), 46 
inches of water fell during the months of January and February, 1852. 

The year 1856 might be said to be an exception, even to excep- 
tional years. A severe drought, intense summer heat, earthquake 
shocks, thunder and lightning, and severe sand storms, made a variety 
of climate, that, if not pleasing, was varied enough. It was considered 
the dryest and most unhealthful season the country had known for 
twenty years. During the summer of that year and the ensuing winter 
the loss of cattle in the county of Loa Angeles alone by starvation 
was estimated at one hundred thousand. 

The year 1859 was another exceptional year. In October the 
thermometer registered 110° in the shade, and in December occurred 
the most remarkable precipitation of rain ever known in the county. 
It was estimated that one foot of water fell within twenty-four 
hours. The rivers overflowed the lowlands, doing considerable 
damage. The starving cattle and sheep, unsheltered from the 
pitiless rain, chilled through, died by thousands during the etorm. 
Large tracts of the bottom lands were covered with sand and sediment. 



36 



HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERy CALIFORNIA. 



The great flood of 1861-62 was the Noachaiii deluge of California 
floode. During the months of December, 1861, and January, 1862, 
according to a record kept at San Francisco, 35 inches of rain fell, and 
the fall for the season footed up nearly 60 inches. As in Noah's days, 
the windows of heaven were opened, and the waters prevailed exceed- 
ingly on the face of the earth. The valley of the Sacramento was a 
vast inland sea; the city of Sacramento was submerged and almost 
ruined. Relief boats on their errands of mercy, leaving the channeU 
of the rivers, sailed over inundated ranches, past floating houses, and 
wrecks of barns, through vast Soteama, made up of farm products and 
farming implements, and the carcasses of horses, sheep and cattle, all 
drifting out to sea. In our county, on account of the smaller area of 
the valleys, there was but little loss of property. The rivers spread 
over the lowlands, but stock found safety from the flood on the hills. 
The Santa Ana, for a time, rivaled the " Father of Waters " in magni- 
tude. In the town of Anaheim, four miles from the river, the water 
ran four feet deep and spread in an unbroken sheet to the Coyote hills, 
three miles beyond. The inhabitants sought safety in the second 
stories of their houses, and those who were not fortunate enough to have 
an upper story quartered themselves upon those who had. One 
unfortunate was carried down by the current and drowned. Some of 
the vineyards on the southern side of the colony were covered with 
debris and almost ruined. The Ranchos Las Balsos, La Bolsa Chics, 
the lower portions of the Santiago de Santa Ana and Las Alamitoe 
were covered with water. To the afl'righted vaqueros, who had sought 
safety on the hills, it did seem as if the fountains of the great deep had 
really been broken up, and that the freshet had filled the Pacific Ocean 
to overflowing. The Arroyo Seco, swollen to a mighty river, brought 
down from the mountains and caflons great rafts of drift-wood that, 
lodging here and there in the channel of the Los Angeles, formed dams 
that turned the current hither and thither, tearing away the low banka 
and spreading the waters still further over the valley, then breaking 
away, the drift was carried down and spread over the plains below the 
city. The drift-wood brought down by that flood, furnished fuel to the 
poor people of the city for several years. It began raining on Decem- 
ber '2i, 1861, and continued for thirty days, with but two slight interrup- 
tions. The Star published the following local : " A Phenomenon — On 
Tuesday last the sun made its appearance. The phenomenon lasted 
several minutes and was witnessed by a great number of persooB." 
For nearly three weeks there was no mail; some wag labeled the poet- 
ofHcp, "To Let." 

After the deluge, what ? The drought. It began in the fall of 1862, 
and lasted to the winter of 1864-65. The rainfall for the season of 



EXCEPTIONAL YEARS. 



87 



I 



1862-63 did not exceed four inches, and that of 1863-64 was even lesa. 
In the fall of 1863 a few ehowerB fell, hut not enough to start the grass. 
No more fell until March. The cattle were dying of starvation. Herds 
of gaunt, skeleton-like forma, moved slowly over the plains in search 
of food. Here and there, singly or in small groups, poor brutes, too 
weak to move on, stood motionless with drooping heads slowly dying 
of starvation. It was a pitiful sight. In the long stretch of arid plain 
between San Gabriel and the Sam a Ana there was one oasis of luxuriant 
green. It was the vineyarda of the Anaheim colonists kept green by 
irrigation. The colony lands were surrounded by a close willow-hedge, 
and the streets closed by gates. The starving cattle, frenzied by the 
sight of something green, would gather around the inclosure and make 
desperate attempts to break through. A mounted guard patrolled the 
outside of the barricade day and night to protect the vineyarda from 
incursion by the starving herds. 

The loss of cattle was fearful. The plains were strewn with their 
carcasses. In marshy places and around the cieoegas, where there 
was a vestige of green, the ground was covered with their skeletons, 
and the traveler for years afterward was often startled by coming 
suddenly on a veritable Golgotha — a place of skulls — the long horns 
standing out in defiant attitude, as if protecting the fleshlesa bones. It 
is said that 30,000 head of cattle died on the Stearns Eanchos alone. 
The great drought of 18B3-64 put an end to cattle raising as the distinc- 
tive industry of Southern California. 

The flood of 1867-68 left a lasting impress on the physical contour 
of the county by the creation of a new river, or rather a new channel 
for an old river, the San Gabriel. Several thousand acres of land were 
washed away by the San Gabriel cutting a new channel to the sea, 
but the damage was more than offset by the increased facilities for 
irrigation, afforded by having two rivers instead of one. The Los 
Angeles overflowed its banks and carried away acres of valuable 
orchard and vineyard. 

The floods of 1884 and 1886 caused considerable damage to the lower 
portions of the city. The flood of 1884 swept away about fifty houses, 
and carried away portions of several orange orchards and vineyards. 
One life was lost, that of a milkman, who attempted to cross the Arroyo 
Seco. The flood of 1886 was very similar to that of 1884 ; the same 
portion of the city was flooded — that between Alameda Street and the 
river. Several houses were washed away, and two lives lost. During 
the flood of 1884 the Santa Ana River cut a new channel to the sea. 
Beginning at a point below where the Santiago Creek enters the Santa 
Ana, the new river passer through the fertile lands east of the old river, 
leaving B strip between the two rivers, varying in width from one to 



38 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTBEEy CAlIFOJtXTA. 

three miles, and discharging its waters (where it has any to discharge) 
into the ocean about three miles southeast of the mouth of the old 
river. Within a period of seventy years we find that the three principal 
rivers of our county have all created new channels for themaelves, and 
have materially changed their courses : the Los Angeles, from westerly 
to southeasterly ; the San Gabriel, cutting a new channel from three to 
six miles southeasterly of its old une ; and the Santa Ana, drifting in 
the same direction twice since 1822. At no very distant day, but 
probably not since the settlement of the country by the Spaniards, the 
Santa Ana flowed north of the present site of Anaheim and entered the 
ocean through Alamitos Bay. Leaving the present channel near 
Burriel Point and running westerly, there is a well defined dry river- 
bed that can be traced for many miles. Twice within the past twenty 
years, during high waters, the Santa Ana has broken into the old 
channel, and for a time threatened to return to its old bed. The course 
of the Santa Ana, in former times, like that of the Los Angeles, was 
nearly due west. The change of channel in the lower course of our 
rivers is due to the formation of deltas or bars across the outlets. The 
river-beds being shallow, in high water, the overflow spreads out over 
the plains and deposits the detritus brought down from the hills and 
mountains on the land instead of carrying it into the ocean. In course 
of time the river-way is built up above the surrounding land and the 
river seeks a new outfall. 

In looking over the record of floods we find, as a rather remarkable 
coincidence, that for a period of fifty years, a Hood has occurred every 
tenth year. Beginning with the season of 1811 and 1812 we find floods 
occurred in 1822-32-42-52 and 62. To establish a theory of decadal 
floods there should have been one in 1872 and in 1882, but both these 
were dry years — floods occurring in 1873-74 and 1883-84. Possibly 
the great flood of 1868 so confused Jupiter Pluvius that be lost his 
reckoning. The change of direction in the lower course of our rivers 
baa been uniformly to the southeastward, thus in a measure paralleling 
the trend of the coast line. This change has contributed greatly to the 
forming of new land along the coast. Within the memory of persons 
now living the shore line, at several points, has been advanced into the 
ocean a considerable distance. At the Ballona harbor the peninsula 
between the harbor or slough and the ocean has all been formed since 
1850. Before that time the ocean waves washed what is now the inner 
shore of the harbor. At Anaheim Landing, in 1869, a lumber vessel 
ran up the slough past the warehouse and unloaded her cargo. The 
channel of the slough is now filled up and has become dry land except 
during very high tides. At the mouth of the San Juan and Santa Ana 
rivers, at the Alamitos Bay and Rattlesnake Island and various other 



EXCEPTIONAL YEAHS. 39 

points along the coast of Southero California the land has encroached 
on the ocean. This is partly due to the silt hroiight down by the rivers 
during floods and partly to the absence of a littoral current south of 
Point Concepcion. This record of California floods, I confess, appears 
rather formidable and might even be considered damaging to the good 
name of our State, were it not that our floods, like everything else in 
our State, can not be measured by the standard of other countries. We 
are exceptional even in the matter of floods. While floods in other 
lands are wholly evil in their eff'ects, ours, although causing temporary 
damage, are greatly beneflcial to the country. They fill up the springs 
and mountain lakes and reservoirs that feed our creeks and rivers, and 
supply water for irrigation during the long dry season. A flood year 
is always followed by a fruitful year. The disastrous effects of drought 
disappeared with the decadence of the cattle and sheep industries. In- 
creased facilities for irrigation, the development of water by tunneling 
into the hills, artesian wells, the building of reservoirs for water storage, 
and the more economic use of water, have done much to counteract the 
evil effects of the dreaded dry year, 



'^THE TWIN RELICS OF BARBARISM.' 



The facts about my connection with the Republican Convention 
which sat in Philadelphia, in June 1856, about which you inquire, are 
simply these: 

In the ppring of 1856, I was residing in the city of San FraHcisco, 
practicing law, and had been so residing since the latter part of Novem- 
ber, 1853. When I settled there, I had not brought my family with 
me, and, after an absence of two years and a half, I resolved to make a 
visit home to ray family in Western Pennsylvania, in the montii of 
May. My political status as an anti-slavery man and this intended 
visit home being well known among my political friends — without any 
solicitation on my part — I was, through their agency, I presume, ap- 
pointed by the Republican convention which assembled in Sacramento 
shortly before that time, as one of the delegates from California to at- 
tend the approaching Republican convention to be held in Philadel- 
phia in June, 1856. In order to reach there in time, it was necessary 
for the delegates from California to leave San Francisco about the 
middle of May, and to go by steamship by way of Panama. At the 
time we left, the city was in the hands of the Vigilance Committee. 
We sailed on Thursday, I remember, because the execution of Yankee 
Sullivan and others, by order of the Vigilance Committee, was to take 
place on Friday, the day following. On the steamer I met and made 
the acquaintance of the other delegates from California to that conven- 
tion", and during the voyage we exchanged views and talked about the 
principles and policy of the new party, and of the candidates for Presi- 
dent and Vice-President, to be nominated at Philadelphia. As Califor- 
nians we were mostly, if not all, in favor of the nomination of Col. John 
C. Fremont, of California — " The Pathfinder," — for the •ffice of Presi- 
dent of the United States. For the office of Vice-President we were 
leas unanimous in our choice of a candidate. 

When we arrived in Philadelphia and asBembled in convention, June 
17, 1856, I found that I had been selected by my associates as the 
chairman of the California delegation in that body. I acted, as such, 
during the sittings of the convention. By virtue of that selection, ! 
presume, I was also placed on the general platform committee, as the 
representative of California. After that committee organized for 
buBiue^, it appointed a suh-couimittee on which I was placed, together 



THE TWiy RELICS OF BARBAnFSJf. 



41 



with the Hon, Joshua R. Giddings, of Ohio, the Hon, Francia P. Blair, 
Sr., of Maryland, and other distinguished gentlemen from other States 
of the Union. In assigning the work to be done by the several mem- 
bers of this fiub-committee, the duty of drafting the resolutions in favor 
of the Pacific Railroad, and against slavery in the territories of the 
United States, was assigned to me, because those were the two subjects 
in which California was supposed to be more particularly interested. 
No special instruction was given to me on the subject of polygamy in 
the territories. But as polygamy was already odious in the public 
mind and a growing evil, and as both those social institutions rested 
precisely on the same eonatitutional basis, in order to make war upon 
polygamy, and at the same time strengthen the case against slavery 
as much as possible, by associating the two together, I determined to 
couple them together in one and the same resolution. Accordingly I 
drew up the two resolutions on those subjects, as they afterwards ap- 
peared in the platform, and I reported them to the sub-committee, 
which considered them and reported them, without amendment, to the 
committee, as a whole. They were approved by that committee, and 
were afterward adopted by the convention, as reported. 

I find the resolution, which is the special subject of your inquiry, in 
the work which is most accessible to me at this moment — in the 
biography bf Abraham I-incoln by John G. Nicolay and John Hay, as 
published by them in the May number of the Century JIagazine for 
the year 1887, on page 107. It is in these words : 
I " Resolved, Tba.t the Constitution confers upon Congress sovereign 
power over the territories of the United States for their government, 
and that in the exercise of this power it is both the right and the duty 
of Congress to prohibit in the Territories those twin rtlics of barbari»Tn — 
polygamy and slavery" 

In regard to this resolution and more particularly in regard to what 
I you term the "famous phrase," at the close of it — besides the r|uestion 
of its authorship — there is a piece of political history, not generally 
known, which I think ought to be preserved. 

When I reported that resohition in its present form to the aub-com- 
mittee for its approval — strange to say — the Hon. Joshua R. Giddinga, 
of Ohio, either moved or suggested, that the so-called " famous phrase" 
should be stricken out, on two grounds — 1st. Because it was not wise 
to use epittiets; 2d. Because it was unnecessary to specify " polygamy," 
as it was already \-irtually included in the term " slavery." To this, 
of course, I was strongly opposed, but as the youngest and the least 
distinguished member cf the committee, I would have fared badly in a 
contest with a man so distinguished as Mr. Giddings. Fortunately for 

!, at this juncture, the Hon. Francis P. Blair, Sr., of Maryland, came 



42 mSTORlCAL SOCIETY OP SOUTHERN CALIFORy/A. 



. ik,i I 



to my relief. He had been the editor of The Globe newspaper — the 
otBcial organ of the administration of Gen. Jackson, in Waebington 
City — and ae an old and experienced politician, he knew the vaJue of 
political phrases, as instrumentalities in political warfare. He therefore 
agreed with me, and opposed the suggestion of Mr. Uiddings. Aftn 
argument, and at his instance mainly, it was determined lo report the 
resolution as originally drawn. For that reason, I have always felt, 
that whatever merit may be due to me, as the author of the resolution 
in its present form, it was to Mr. Blair, of Maryland, that the Repub- 
lican party and the country were chiefly indebted for the use of that 
"famous phrase" in the Republican platform of 1856, and in the 
political history of the country since that time. The rapturous 
enthusiasm with which the resolution was received by the conveutioa, 
was the first convincing evidence that the committee had acted wisely 
in determining to preserve it in its original form. 

To conclude these reminiscences of my personal connection with the 
Republican convention of 1856, I may add — that after the nomination 
of Fremont as the Republican candidate for President, I was called 
upon, as the chairman of the Califorfta delegation, to respond in he- 
half of that Slate for the honor of that nomination — which I did. by 
running a parallel between Col. Fremont, as the " Pathfinder," and the 
early career of Gen. Washington. In that parallel, the convention MW 
— what, no doubt, it wished to see — an augury of victory ; and of 
course, the speech was received with great applause. In this connec- 
tion, and, as an illustration of the old saying, " Times change, and men 
change with them," I am reminded of the fact, that at the close of my 
speech Judge Hoadley, of Ohio, (afterward a Democratic Governor of 
that State), who stood near me on the platform, congratulated me very 
warmly on the success of ray speech — saying, among other things, by 
way of commendation that " with that speech," he " could carry the 
State of Ohio for Fremont." 

I may also add, that at the close of the convention, I was also ap- 
pointed a member of the committee, of which Judge Hoar, of Massa- 
chusetts, was chairman, to visit Col. Fremont in New York City, and 
in order to present to him the resolutions of the convention, and to in- 
form him officially, of his nomination, as the Republican candidate for 
the Presidency in the election of lSo6, upon them as its political plat- 
form — which duty we performed a few days after the adjournment of 
the convention. 

For all these fleeting honors, I then knew and felt, that I was in- 
debted solely to the fact that, at the time, I was the representative of 
the young and rising State of California. Such being the fact, I 
it eminently proper, that the Historical Society of Southern Calii 



I 




THE TWIN RELICS OF BARBARISM. 43 

in this city, ehould investigate the clainiB of one of her citizeQB to such 
political honor ae may be justly due to him as a representative of that 
State, more especially when that honor is claimed for a citizen of 
another State. For that reason I have cheerfully responded to the call 
made upon me by your society to aid it in its investigation of the mat- 
ter in question. 

Ever since June, 1856, I have always claimed and believed myself 
to be the sole author of the resolution to which you refer and of every 
part of it — now, for a period of nearly thirty-four years. In fact I was 
not aware untU wit!iin the last year that there was any dispute about 
it, or of any counter-claim made in behalf of any other person. / kax'e 
alviayg regarded il as one of the few things which certainly belong to me. 
Within the last year, however, I have heard from my friend and college 
classmate, the Rev, John M. Faris, of Anna, Illinois, that its aulhor- 
ehip has been claimed by some newspaper in Chicago (whose name I 
forget), and that upon repeated applications to It by him for its author- 
ity for the claim, made by it, in behalf of the Hon. Walton, a 

former member of Congress from Vermont, he had wholly failed to 
obtain any satisfaction or any authority for that claim. 

What claims Mr. Walton may have to the authorship of the " famous 
phrase," to which you refer, I do not know, but this I do know, full 
well, that I never borrowed it from him, or from anybody else ; for I 
remember the time and almost the very place where the phraseology of 
that resolution first came into my mind. It was whilst walking down 
Eleventh Street in Philadelphia, toward Independence Hall, during 
the session of the Republican convention in that city, and after it had 
been made my duty to report a resolution on the subject of slavery in 
the territories, and the constitutional power of Congress to prohibit it 
therein. 

Fortunately, the question and the controversy, is mostly, if not 
entirely a question of dates, and on that basis it can be easily 
settled. If it can be shown that the phrase in question was used 
by Mr. Walton in Congress or elsewhere, before the 18th day of June, 
I86G, and consequently before its use in the Republican platform of 
that date, then he may have some claims to a co'iicurrenl author- 
ihip of the phrase; but if not, then he has none whatever; unless 
it can be shown by him, or by me (as the exigency of the case 
may require), to be one of those cases of parallelism in thought and 
expression, which sometimes occur, and of which there are many ex- 
amples in literary history, when the idea of plagiarism cannot reason- 
ably be supposed. I am aware that the same idea in different minds 
may be independently expressed by them in the same words, and 
sometimes, from the very necessity of language — ^jnst as we know, by 



\ 



44 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALLFORXIA. 

way of analogy, that the same inventiona and diecoveries are Bometimes 
made, simultaneously or nearly so, by different men, in different 
countries, each acting independently — because they are compelled by 
the laws of being which are the same everywhere, to arrive at the same 
conclusions from the same premises, in their efforts to meet the de- 
mands of public want in society. 

\\'hether the case in question is an exampleof that kind, on his part or 
on mine, I shall not now inquire. For the present, I leave Mr. WaltOQ 
or the claimants in his behalf, to show first, if they pan, his use of the 
" famous phrase " before the 18th day of June, 1S56, before I shall feel 
called upon, in my turn, to explain in the manner jnst euggeeted, its 
use by me in the resolution in question. Until that necessity shall 
arise, I shall content myself with submitting the question in this case, 
to the judgment of history, upon the facts and circumstances now pre- 
sented by me to your society for its consideration, and for the final 
determination of history therein, if indeed, so small a matter shall be 
deemed worthy of its serious consideration. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON METEOR- 
OLOGY. 



The science of meteorology is in its formative Btagea. It haa not ad- 
vanced to the plane of an exact science. While prognostications of the 
weather and signs and portents to foretell climatic changes are as old 
ae the race itself, the great niasB of these have no scientific base for a 
foundation, and many of them are merely^ old-time traditions and 
superstitions. 

The organization of the signal service bureau has done much toward 
the formation of a science of meteorology. The data gathered hy that 
bureau will in the course of time be cryetalliied into a science. 

The year 1889 may be classed among the flood years. It has been 
characterized by an excessive precipitatioQ throughout the central l>elt 
of the northern hemisphere. Floods have occurred in the United 
States, in Europe and Asia. In this report we shall confine ourselves 
to observations on atmospheric phenomena of Southern California. 

The year 1889 was an exceptional one in several respects. First, rain 
fell every month except June and September ; second, a very small 
precipitation during the usually rainy months of January and Febru- 
ary (precipitation for January, .2.t in., February. .92 in.); third, aheaAy 
rainfall in March (precipitation, 6,48 in.); fourth, unusually heavy rain 
storms in October and December, the rainfall for October and Decem- 
ber being in excess of any recorded rainfall for those months since a 
record has been kept. 

The record shows that the maximum mean temperature was reached 
in August, the minimum in January. Number of days in which rain 
fell, 62 ; clear, 258. 

A marked feature of the October storm, and to a certain extent of 
the storms of the season so far, was the unequal distribution of the 
rainfall. The report of the signal service division of the Pacific gives 
the following at different stations in Southern California : 





RAINFALL, 


KORMAL OR AVERAUE SEAS 




OCT<.IlER, 1S8B. 




Santa Barbara, 


10.57 inches. 


0,47 inches. 


Los Angeles, 


7.00 ■' 


0.46 " 


Anaheim, 


2.31 " 


0.36 " 


Santa Ana, 


1.91 " 


not given. 


San Diego, 


2.10 " 


0.41 " 


Colton, 


1.59 " 


0.28 " 



46 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERy CALIFORNIA. 

Thus we find that while the average seasoD rainfall for October 
throughout a period of ten years, from 1878 to 1888, in Santa Barbara 
and Los Angeles varies only 1-100 of an inch, the variation in the Oc- 
tober storm was 3.57 inches. The difference between San Diego and 
Los Angeles was 4.90 inches ; between San Diego and Santa Barbara, 
8.47 inches ; difference in the average October rainfall of San Diego 
and these points is 5-100 and 6-100, respectively. Santa Ana, in an air 
line thirty miles southeasterly of Los Angeles, reports 5.09 inches less 
rain : Colton, fifty miles east, 5.41 inches less. 

The mean monthly temperature at all the Pacific stations for the 
months of October, November and the first half of December was 
above the average, the month of October being unusually warm. The 
mean temperatures at Loe Angeles and San Diego were for 



1 



At Los Angeles, 66" 61° 55" 

At San Diego, 65 62 58 

Another peculiar feature of the rainfall of the season up to the close 
of the second December storm, December 15, was the comparatively 
email precipitation on and in the vicinity of the higher mountain 
ranges. San Bernardino, distant about twelve miles from the highest 
mountain of Southern California, Mount San Bernardino (over 11,000 
feet high) up to December 14 reported a rainfall of 9.43 inches ; Po- 
mona, at the same date, 11.75 inches; Los Angeles, 16.78 inches; 
Santa Monica, about the same as Los Angeles. 

Up to the 2lBt of December the storms were coast etonns. This is 
evidenced by the limited rise of the rivers. December 12 aad 13, 
in Los Angeles, 4.30 inches fell in twenty-four hours, a greater fall than 
that of the 24th of December, which fiooded a portion of the city and 
country. That this heavy fall did not cause a disastrous flood was due 
to the limited precipitation in the mountain districts. 

The common theory is that high mountains act as condensers of 
moisture ; consequently the precipitation on our higher momitain 
ranges and their foothills should greatly exceed that of the valleys. 
Generally speaking the theory is true, but there are very many excep- 
tions and limitations to it. In ray opinion, the northeast or polar wind 
current is by far the larger factor in condensation of moisture on our 
coast, the mouotain ranges acting more as elevators of the current than 
as condensers. Wherever there exists a considerable elevation, either 
a mountain chain or a high range of hills, lying transversely or at right 
angles to this current, all places situated near the southwest base of 
such will have a heavy rainfall. Instance : Pasadena, Glendale, Los 
Angeles, Santa Monica and Santa Barbara, in Southern California; 
Sau Francisco, Saucilito, San Rafael and Napa, in Central Califbmia ; 



r 



I 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON METEOROLOGY. 47 

SisBon, Redding, Yrefea and Shasta, in Sorthem California. The latter 
place, Shasta, reports a rainfall of 62.56 inches up to December 27. 
The transverse mountain chains lift or deflect the polar current into the 
upper air strata, where it performs the office of condeneation without 
acting as an absorber of moisture. These transverse ranges are rain 
divides. Wherever a low pass in the mountains allows the polar or 
northeast current to drop into the lower air stratas, the precipitation 
will be decreased. Instance: San Bernardino, Colton, Riverside, 
Anaheim and Santa Ana in Southern California. The three first named 
have a greater elevation than Los Angeles. The rainfall at Riverside 
up to December 27 measured only 9. -36 inches; up to the same date 
at Los Angeles, 25.62 inches; at Anaheim to the same date, 13.56 inches. 
The northeast winds from the Cajon and San Gurgonio passes focus 
upon Riverside and Colton, consequenfly these places record com- 
paratively smallseason rainfalls, that of Riverside in 1882-83 being only 
2.94 inches; Los Angeles for the same season, 12.11 inches. 

There is often a very marked difference in the amount of rainfall 
recorded hy gauges at stations close to each other. The following 
reports are from three sources — signal station southwest comer of First 
and Spring street (No. 1), Germain Fruit Company, Alameda street 
Macy {No. 2), and the Southern Pacific depot (No. 3), all taken 
by standard gauges. These records are up to December 2B: 

No. 1, 24.72 inches; No. 2, 22.46 inches; No. 3, 25.62 inches. 

The difierence between the lowest and highest record is 3.16 inches. 
The extreme distance apart is less than a mile. The elevations from 
the ground are as follows: No. 1, 66 feet; No. 2, 20 feet; No. 3, 10 feet. 
The distance from the ground at which the gauge is placed may account 
in part for the difference but not entirely. Variable or eccentric wind 
currents of different temperature undoubtedly increase or decrease pre- 
cipitation accordingly as they are cold or warm. 

An approaching heavy rain storm is first signaled from points on the 
western coast of Washington, Oregon or Northern California. Moving 
eoutheasterly, it usually reaches us in from thirty to fifty hours after it 
strikes the northwestern part of the coast. 

The October storm was reported in Washington and Northern Oregon 
on the 6th, Northern and Central California on the 7th, and reached us 
on the 8th. Most of the December storms entered the coast in Northern 
California. The storm center being so much further south than usual 
no doubt accounts for the violence of our December rains and the 
unusual precipitation. The December rainfall for Washington and 
Oregon is below the average for that month. There is seemingly a 
meteorological paradox in connection with our rain storms which, so 
far as I know, none of our local climatologists have made a note of. All 



48 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHEES CALIFORSH. 

our heavy rain stormB travel from northweBt to Boutheast, moving from 
the points where they strike the northwest coaat southeasterly through 
from BIX to ten degrees of longitude. Skirting the weBtero flanks of th» 
Cascades and Sierra Nevada, occasionally crossing these mountaia 
barriers, they expend their force or leave the coast from fifty to on» 
hundred and fifty miles south of San Diego. 

The signal service reports rain in Oregon or Northern California, aud 
if the storm is a heavy one, in due time it reaches us. Moving down 
the coast from the northwest it reaches us from the southeast, rather a 
paradoxical performance. Our climatologists tell ub that the return 
trade winds, bringing with them immense volumes of moisture gathered 
from that other paradox, the Kuro Siwo, deposit it in our valleys us rain 
and on our mountains as snow. The return trades are southwest wind% 
and every one knows or ought to know that in our part of the state tb« 
winds that bring us rain blow from the southeast. One CaUrornit 
meteorologist of some standing tells us that the great mountain range* 
on the western coast of Mexico change the direction of the return trades, 
force them through the long narrow Gulf of Cahfornia and along th» 
Pacific coast, and they pass over the state as southeast winds. ThesB 
winds, he tells us, are warm and moiBt when they reach us. Let us 
where they get their moisture. The northeast trade winds blow from 
about SC north latitude to the equator. The return trades passing 
over them as an upper current become surface winds beyond the calms 
of Cancer, say in latitude 31^ north. The Gidf of California heads in 
latitude 31'' north. Now if these return trades went skirting along th» 
high mountain ranges of Mexico, dropping to the surface in the deeeri 
regions about the head of the gulf, then blowing from the soulheaBt 
across the Colorado desert and over the San Jacinto range, it is my 
opinion that they would reach us about as dry and unsatiafactory 
this climatologist's theory. 

It is now a generally accepted theory that all violent storms are great 
whirlwinds called cyclonic areas, in which the wind blows in circuit* 
around an axis. This axis is the storm center and the area of loir 
barometer. The circuit of motion is spirally inward and upward in 
ever narrowing circles, gradually ascending as they approach the center. 
These areas on our coast originate or move with the Japan current upon 
the Oregon or Washington coast. Striking the high Cascade range, 
which parallels the coast, they are detlected southeastward. Flattened 
by the mountain barrier, they assume an oval form with the longer axis 
in the same direction as that of the longer axis of the cyclonic dis- 
turbance, the broad part of this in the north and tapering to ths 
south. North of Cape Mendocino the rain wind blows from the eouth- 
west. South of that cape, where the coast bends to the soutbeaet, thA 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON METEOROLOGY. 49 

rain wind is a southerly wind, and south of Point CoQcepcion, where 
the coast line bends still more rapidly toward the east, the rain wind 
is from Ihe southeast. Placing your back to the rain wind, the area 
of low barometer and the storm center will always be on your left. 

Is our climate changing ? With every abnormal freak of the 
weather some amateur meteorologist rushes into print to inform the 
world that the climate of Southern California is ohanging. We are 
jMjsitively assured that the dreaded dry years are things of the past, 
that the planting of trees, the cultivation of the soil, iocreaee of popula- 
tion, building of railroads, etc., have increased and are increasing our 
rainfall every year. If any one will take the time and trouble to search 
through the files of our California papers for twenty years or more 
back, he will find the timber theory of rain production advanced every 
wet year and ignored every dry year. 

If some arboriculturist could devise a plan for planting our foothills 
and mountain sides with furesta of giant sequoia and lofty sugar pine 
full grown and could keep them growing, possibly during a rain storm 
the precipitation on the mountain sides might he slightly increased. 
But that a few orange groves and deciduous fruit orchards and a few 
scattering clumps of gum trees Hhould change the climatic conditions 
of the Pacific slope throughout a distance of 1,500 or 2,(XX) milee is 
drawing a very big conclusion from a very small premise. 

It is a well-known fact to the older residents that during the dry 
seasons of 1863-64 there was at least 50 per cent, more timber on the 
foothills, in the canyons and on the mountain aides of Southern Cali- 
fornia than there is now. Live oak, white oak, mountain ash and lining 
the river courses were dense growths of willows. Possibly the low 
growing orange, apple and peach are better condensers of moisture 
than the loftier sycamore and oak. 

If, as it is claimed, the ice line of the frigid zone is moving south- 
ward, in the course of time the Japan current will be deflected more to 
the southward and the area of cyclonic disturbance will move south- 
ward with it, and our climate will change slowly, but so very slowly 
that the change will not disturb any of the present residents of Southern 
Cslifomia. 



APPKN DIX. 

Report of the Secretary. 

Yonr Secretary has the following report for 1889 : 

Number of Meetinga, 16 

Number of Members, January 14, 1889, - . . . jg 

Number of Papers read, 18 

New Membere elected, 14 

New Honorary Members, ■ ■ i 

New CorreBponding Members, 1" 

The Society also published and circulated 500 copies of the annua] 
pamphlet, a creditable work of 55 pages. Copies were sent to all 
historical societies in the United States, and to prominent libraries 



Report of the Treasurer. 



k 



Balance on hand, January 6, 18! 



The Society celebrated the centennial of Washington's Inaugura- 
tion, April 30. It also held a reception at the Normal School, and waa 
received at the residences of Don A. P. Coronel and George Butler 
Griffin. 

The Society received 32 books from Richard Gird, Esq. ; 8 from 
the Secretary of State of California, and 30 from the Friends' Historical 
Society. The Secretary also collected 500 pamphlets, and secured files 
of 8 new daily newspapers, 20 weeklies, 2 monthlies and 92 bound 
volumes. B. A. STEPHENS. 



I submit the following report for the period from Januarj- 7. 1889, to 
January 6, 1890 : 

Amount on hand, January 7, 1889, 
Received from Admisaion Fees, 

" " Dues, 

Total, 

gXPKNDITL'REB. 

For Printing Annual Pamphlet for 1889, 
Miscellaneous Expenses, 



«i26 as 

2S 00 
118 OO 


»272 55 


*122 00 
56 10 


»178 10 




(94 45 


J. M. GUINN. 



REPORTS. 61 



Report of the Curator. 



I have to report the following property of the Society in my posses- 
sion on January 6, 1890 : 

150 Bound Books. 
747 Pamphlets. 
39 Maps. 
18 Photographs. 

I Case of Curios. 

26 Files of Weekly Newspapers. 

II Files of Dailies. 

4 Files of Monthly Publications. 

Complete files of Newspapers, a large number of Manuscripts, Views, 

and other Miscellaneous Bundles. 

IRA MORE. 



Report of the Committee on Publication. 

Your Publication Committee would report that eighteen papers were 

read before the Society in 1889, and that 500 pamphlets were published 

and circulated. 

B. A. STEPHENS, 

IRA MORE, 

H. D. BARROWS. 





^ 






ANNtJAL PUBLICATION 




— OF THE — 




HHi^topiegv pK^oeiety 




— OF — 




Southern California 




1891 




LOS ANGELES. CjU.. 
■ta yiUIaS OP THE FRASKLIM PRINTIJIG CO. 


Km 


^■B 


■ 



ESTASLISMCD NOVCMBCII 1. 1883. INCORFOIIATCD FCBIIUAIIV 13. 1801. 



ANNUAL PGBLICATION 



— OF THE — 



Hi^topieivl/K^oeie 




OF 



Southern California 



1891 



IX)S ANGBI.ES, CAI^ 
PRESS OF THE FRANKI.IN PRINTING CO. 

189I. 



PRESIDENTS AND YEARS OF SERVICE. 



JONATHAN TRUMBULL WARNER, 1883-4. 

JOHN MANSFIELD, 1885. 

ISAAC KINLEY, 1886. 

IRA MORE, 1887. 

HENRY DWIGHT BARROWS, 1888. 

EDWARD WADSWORTH JONES, 1889. 

JAMES MILLER GUINN, 1890. 

GEORGE BUTLER GRIFFIN, 1891. 



©fjfieeFS fop 1891. 



President— GEORGE BUTLER GRIFFIN. 

First Vice-President— JOHN MANSFIELD. 

Second Vice-President— JOHN P. P. PECK. 

Secretary— B. A. CECIL-STEPHENS. 

Treasurer— JAMES MILLER GUINN. 

Curator— IRA MORE. 



Directors— Gi:(iR<;K Rltler Griffin. 
John Mansfield. 
John P. P. Pkck. 
B. A. Cixil-Stkphens. 
James Miuj:r Guinn. 
Ira More, 
Noah Levering. 



©ommittees, 1891. 



E. Baxter, Chairman. 



FINANCE. 
C. P. Dorland. 



C. Cecil Stephens. 



PUBLICATION. 

J. P. P. Peck, Chairman. 
B. A. Cecil-Stephens. J. E. T. Budington. 



Miss T. L. Kelso. 



HISTORY. 

H. D. Barrows, Chairman. 
J. Adam. A. F. Coronel. W. F. Edgar. J. M. Guinn. Mrs. M. E. Hart 



H. S. Orme. 



GEOLOGY. 

Ira More, Chairman. 
I. Kinley. 



Geo. Hansen. 



Isaac Kinley. 



METEOROLOGY. 

J. M. Guinn, Chairman. 
C. N. Wilson. J. W. Forsyth. 



Frank W. Smith. 



BOTANY. 
J. C. Harvey, Chairman. 
M. C. Westbrook. 



E. W. Jones. 



W. A. Burr. 



C. P. Fenner. 



GENEALOGY AND HERALDRY. 

B. A. Cecil-Stephens, Chairman. 
William A. Burr. 



E. Baxter. 



MINERALOGY. 

C Cecil Stephens, Chairman. 

C. N. Wilson. 



J. M. Guinn. 



N. Levering. 



ENTOMOLOGY. 
A. F. Kercheval, Chairman. J. C. Harvey. 



C. N. Wilson. 




CRQbeps. 



LIFE MEMBER. 
Col. George Butler Griffin, 714 Downey Avenue. 



ACTIVE MEMBERS. 

Adam, Very Rev. Joachim, loi E. Second Street 

Ayers, Col. James Joseph, 1033 S. Pearl Street 

Barrows, Henry Dwight, 520 S. Main Street 

Baxter, Edwin, 239 S. Hill Street 

Budington, John Eliot Thayer, 1005 Alpine Street 

Burr, William A., St Angelo Hotel 

Burr-Bley, Mrs. Clara A., Philadelphia, Pa. 

Carran, Hon. Thomas J., - - - - 721 W. Twenty-third Street 

Clark, Dr. J. E., - - - - Cor. Seventh Street and Maple Avenue 

Cole, Nathan, Jr., Pasadena Ave. and City Limits 

Conrey, Nathaniel P., Hotel Amidon 

Coronel, Don Antonio Francisco, 701 Central Avenue 

Coronel, Dona Mariana Williamson de, ... 701 Central Avenue 

Dailey, Col. Charles E., San Pranciaco 

De Cells, Eulogio P., Room 40, Fulton Block 

Dorland, Chester Paul, 251 S. Bunker Hill Avenue 

Dozier, Prof. Melville, 829 W. Eleventh Street 

Downey, Ex-Gov. John Gately, 345 S. Main Street 

Earl, Charles Nelson, 718 Downey Avenue 

Eaton, Judge Benjamin S., South Pasadena 

Edgar, Dr. William Francis, 631 S. Main Street 

Fenner, Charles Putnam, Chino 

Forrester, Edward A., 949 W. Seventh Street 

Forsyth, John W., 303 N. Griffin Avenue 

Garey, Thomas Andrew, Garey, California 

Goodwin, Clarence L., ------ - Washington, D. C. 

Gosper, Hon. John J., 510 S. Main Street 

Guinn, Prof. James Miller, - • . - - . 115 S. Grand Avenue 

Hanchette, H. Jay, 425 S. Broadway 

Hansen, George, 621 S. Main Street 

Harvey, James C, S51 N. Pearl Street 

Jones, Major Edward Wadswortli. - - - 1200 W. Seventh Street 

Kelso, Miss Tessa L., 1605 S. Main Street 

Kinley, Major Isaac, Calabasas 

Lemmert, Paul H., 16 10 Figueroa Street 

Levering, Judge Noah, 164 Beaudry Avenue 

Lindley, Dr. Walter, 'WTiittier. California 

Lord, Isaac W., Cucamonga, California 

Mansfield, Gen'l John, 401 S. Hill Street 

More, Prof Ira, 631 W. Fifth Street 

Orme, Dr. Henry Saver, 245 N. Bunker Hill Avenue 

Palmer, Henry A., Claremont. Cal. 



ACTIVE members-Continued. 

Peck, Dr. John P. P., 515 ReRcnt Street 

Pico, RAmulo, -- San Fernando 

Sabicbi, Frank, 1437 S. Figueroa Street 

Smith, Francis Williani, 1258. Daly Street 

Spence, Hon. Eilward F., Monrovia 

Stephens, Bascom Asbury, Cecil 213 N. Frfmont Avenue 

Stephens, Hon. Columbus Cecil 611 Bellevue Avenue 

Thayer, John S., 147 W. Twenty-fifth Street 

Thom, Hon. Cameron E., 118 E. Third Street 

Thompson, F. A., Room 41, Pulton Block 

Van Dyke, Judge Walter, 321 S. Olive Street 

Waldron, Prof, Sylvanus A., 509 Sand Street 

Westbrook, Moses Charles, 17a Bonnie Brae Street 

Wicks, Moses Langley, - Melrose Hotel 

Widney, Dr. Joseph Pomeroy, 421 S. Hill Street 

Williamson, Mrs. M., Burton- ■ ■ - ■ - University, California 
Wilson, Major Christopher North, - - - 3*5 N. Broadway- 
Wright, Edward T., . - I45 N. Olive Street 





^oipopQpGj J^erfiheiPh. 



Prof. MARCUS BAKER, Washington, D. C. 

Dr. RICHARD S. DEN, Los Angeles. 

Dr. LYMAN C. DRAPER, Madison, Wisconsin. 

Mrs. JESSIE BENTON FREMONT, Santa Monica. 

Hon. STEPHEN C. FOSTER, Downey. 

RICHARD GIRD, Esq., Chino. 

Dr. JOHN STROTHER GRIFFIN, Los Angeles. 

Ex-Governor Don PIO PICO, Ranchito. 

Mrs. JOSEPHINE LINDLEY PHIPPS, City of Mexico. 

Prof. JACQUES W. RKDWAY, Washington, D. C. 

Coi.. JONATHAN D. STEVENSON, San Francisco. 

ADOLPH SUTRO, Esq., San Francisco. 

Hon. JONATHAN TRUMBULL WARNER, University. 






Goppe^poipding JQ^mher>^. 



R. E. Blackburn, Ontario. 

Dr. J. P. Booth, Needles. 

Dr. Stephen Bowers, Ventura. 

Judge Thomas H. Bush, San Diego. 

Mrs. Jeanne C. Carr, Pasadena. 

Dr. Edward Stephens Clark, i6 Geary St., San Francisco. 

Banyer Clarkson, 15 W. Forty-fifth St., New York City. 

Hon. Cornelius Cole, Colegrove. 

SciPio Craig, Redlands. 

Gen. Charles W. Darling, Utica, New York. 

Major John W. De Forest, 261 Orange St., New Haven, Ct 

Justus A. Griffin, 47 King William St., Hamilton, Ont. 

Mrs. Mary E. Hart, 801 vS. Hill St., Los Angeles. 

Dr. Walter J. Hoffman, Washington, D. C. 

Hon. E. W. Holmes, Riverside. 

Luther M. Holt, Redlands. 

Albert Fenner Kercheval, Los Angeles. 

Charles F. Monroe, San Diego. 

E. W. Morse, San Diego. 

Charles Mulholland, Independence. 

Charles Nordhoff, Ensenada, Lower California. 

Judge Ygnacio Sepulveda, City of Mexico. 

Hon. John Wasson, Pomona. 

Dr. Lorenzo G. Yates, Santa Barbara. 



IH ]V[E]V[Ot^IA]V[ 



DR. VINCENT GELCICH. 

COL. JOHN FRANKLIN GODFREY. 

HON. HENRY HAMILTON. 

JUDGE VOLNEY E. HOWARD. 

JUDGE AUGUST KOHLER. 

MAJOR HENRY MILNOR MITCHELL. 

CAPT. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS STANLEY 



r 



(iAddress of I|etirin| president Q. M. (Suinn. 



Read January 5, 1891. 

^ T is well at the end of each year's existence of our society to 
I take an inventory, not alone of the material acquired but also of 
ilj the work accomplished and the advance made towards the 
objects for which our society was organized. During the past 
year we have made substantial progress along alt the lines of our 
society's work. Our annual publication of papers read before the 
society is one of the best we have issued. It lias been favorably 
received by the public press and has been commended by the 
librarians of some of the leading libraries of the country. We 
have received flattering testimonials of its merits from the secre- 
taries of other historical societies and the demand for copies of it 
from our own citizens has exceeded our supply. 

In the collection of material we have been quite successful. 
We have been so fortunate as to obtain a number of original docu- 
ments of the Mexican period of Califomian history. One of otir 
most valuable acquisitions during the past year, relating to the early 
American period, consists of files of the Los Angeles Star, running 
from 1S55 to 186S. 

Our files of daily and weekly newspapers of Southern California 
have been steadily accumulating for the past seven years, Our 
miscellaneous collections, consisting of books, pamphlets, maps, 
autographs, minerals, specimens in natural history, curios and 
relics of various kinds, make an interesting and instructive exhibit. 

At the urgent request of our society, the board of supervi.sors 
of this county was induced to order the translation of the papers 
and documents of the Spanish and Mexican periods found in the 
Los Angeles county archives. The translation of these manu- 
scripts when completed will open a rich mine of local history 
to students and readers not acquainted with the Spanish language. 
Hitherto these have been sealed books to the great majority of 
those interested in our early history. Many of the papers read 
before our society during the past year have been of marked 
historic value, notably the series written by Dr. W. F. Edgar, on 
the old forts of California. 



12 Address of tlu Retiring Prtsi'den/. 

In the literary world there is of late an increased interest 
mauifested in historical studies. The leading magazines and 
revie\vs are devoting considerable space to historical articles. 
The series of papers now in course of publication in the 
Century magazine, entitled the"Gold Hunters of California," and 
the short sketches in the same periodical portraying life and 
customs in California before the conquest, are inciting new interest 
in the history of our state. 

The Magazine of American Histor>' is doing a noble and 
patriotic work in popularizing the study of the history of our coun- 
try. With an increased interest in historical studies has grown a 
desire and an earnest endeavor to obtain greater accuracy in his- 
torical narrative. That critical faculty which weighs and judges 
every fact and carefully scrutinizes everj- authority, no matter how 
seemingly conclusive, is constantly exercised, and has caused the 
reversal of many lo tig -established historical verdicts. The more 
extensive our historical reading may be, the less ready we are to 
accept unquestioned what may be offered to us as veritable history. 

This is an age of investigation, and withal it is an age some- 
what given to iconoclasm and to irreverence of self -constituted 
authorities. In this age neither the dicta of prelates nor the 
decrees of councils can prevail against facts or reason. Neither 
can the seal of church or state, nor the dust and cobwebs of 
antiquity, save a false statement from contradiction ora fabe verdict 
from reversal. The iconoclast, the image-breaker, has shattered 
more idols in our hi.storical literature than did the people of Judah 
in the temples of Baal, No one, however, much of an iconoclast 
he may be, would desire to eliminate from our literature myth and 
fable, but surely no intelligeut reader would wish to have mj-th 
and fable pass current for established historj'. "All historj-" may 
be, as Lord Byron says, "splendid fiction," but most of us. I think, 
would prefer to have what we read for history at lea^t fiction 
founded on fact. 

The collection and preser^-ation of all material which can hsTC 
any bearing upon the history' of the Pacific coast in general and of 
Southern California in particular is the primary object of our 
organization. The value of the collection we have already made, 
incomplete and somewhat chaotic as it is, is great. Considering 
the small number af active members we have in our organization 
and the limited means at our command, we have certainly accom- 
plished a work worthy of commendation: a work that will be 
more highly appreciated by the generations that succeed us than 
by our own. From such collections as we hope to make otus 



Address of the Retiring President. 13 

future historians must evolve the true story of our commonwealth. 

While we cannot but admire the industiV and enterprise of the 
Bancroft company in making the vast collection that is stored on 
the shelves of the history building at San Francisco, yet we must 
record our sincere regret that this vast collection of rare and 
valuable books and manuscripts — to many of which no duplicates 
exist — should have become the property of private individuals. 
Such collections should be free to every' student of historj-; free to 
every writer of histor,', that he may form his own opinions and 
draw his own conclusions from original sources, and not from 
second-hand statemeiils biased as such frequently arc by favoritism 
or prejudice. 

Nearly everj- one of the older states, and many of the young'er 
states of the union, have slate historical societies supported by 
state aid, into which have been gathered material, which has a bear- 
ing upon the history of that particular commonwealth. 

California, with a past unrivalled in the variety of the historic 
phases, romance, adventure, intrigue, revolution, war, comiuest; 
California, with the light and shade of its shifting civilisation and 
a largess of material for an epic, grander than the Iliad and more 
fascinating than the Odyssey, hassuffered antiquariaus and literary 
pot-hunters to capture the great mass of its historic material, and 
turn it into an article of merchandise. 

Believing it to be a duty that we owe our slate, and a work 
that we ought to do for future generations, our society has labored 
assiduously in the collection of material. But experience and 
observation shoiv us that we are constantly losing golden oppor- 
tunities for the want of means. The old-time residents are rapidly 
passing away: rare books, valuable manuscripts, important docu- 
ments and interesting curios, illustrative of practices and customs, 
long obsolete, in their possession, are scattered among thediSerent 
members of their families, and are soon lost or carried out of the 
country. With more means at our command, many of these 
valuables could be secured for our society and preserved to posterity. 

But we have other and more pressing needs for more funds. 
We have no rooms that we have any claims upon, in which to 
store our collections. At present we are pensioners on the kind- 
ness of Professor More of the Normal School. The school needs 
the space we occupy, and we must move from our present quarters. 
We have the promise of rooms in the new court house, when that 
building is completed. If we secure these, we mu.st fit them up 
with shelving and cases. To make our collections of newspapers, 
pamphlets and manuscripts available (or the purpose of research as 



14 Address of the Retiring Presidail. 

well as for their preser\'ation, they must be bound. For these two 
imperative needs — fitting up rooms and binding — we require at 
least a thousand dollars. 

The number of papers read before our society has greatly 
increased in the past year. To publish those worth preser^'adoD 
will require us to double the size of our annual volume of collec- 
tions and transactions. Our wants are mauy and increase with 
our growth : our resources are limited. How to obtain the funds to 
meet our wants is a problem hard to solve. 

The growth and maintenance of the society so tar is due to the 
individual efforts of a few public-spirited persons, none of whom 
are blessed with a large amount of this world's goods. To increase 
the amount of our annual dues would work a hardship to these, 
and prevent an increase in our membership. 

Our stale constitution prohibits the legislature from appropria- 
ting mouey to aid any institution not directly under the control of 
the state. To change, as has been suggested, our society into a 
stale historical society, would take the control of it out of the hands 
of those who organized it and built it up, and it would undoubtedly 
remove il from its present location as well as change the field of its 
operations. We cannot hope for any assistance from the state. 

The only resource left us seems to be an increase of member- 
ship, and we should at once begin an active canvass for members. 
There are many intelligent and public- spin ted persons in ourcom- 
munit}', who, if the claims of our society were urged upon them, 
would aid us in our good work. 

It a is verj- prevalent, but, at the same time, a ver^- mistaken idea 
that it is the province of an historical society to deal only with the 
things of the long past. One of the most useful fields of labor for 
such a society- lies in the collection and preservation of material of 
the present for use in the future; in carrying forward from age to 
age by written and printed page the storj- of the ever>'day life of 
the people. This feature of our societj-'s work ought to appeal to 
those who have no interest in the collection of relics or antiquarian 
research. 

In conclusion I would urge upon every member increased 
activity in the work of building up our society. Endeavor to 
arouse the intelligent and thinking people of our community to the 
fact we are working not for selfish purposes or pecuniary gain but 
for the public good. 




ppe?.ider)t ©eopge ©title? ^p'lff'm, 

Read Febhuarv 9, 1891. 

Fellou' Members of (he Historical Society of Southern California: 
N accordance with custom I beg leave to submit the following 
brief remarks: When it is considered that our society hither- 
unto has possessed neither a suitable abiding place, nor even a 
proper legal existence, with greater heartiness, it seems to me, we 
may congratulate ourselves upon the progress we have made from 
year to year, until todaj- we have in our possession a goodly num- 
ber of printed works and manuscripts of no inconsiderable value, as 
well as a constantly increasing collection of objects of interest such 
as are to be found usually in the rooms of an association whose 
field of research is so extensive as ours. The progress we have 
made in the past naturally will stimulate us to increased endeavor 
in the future. While I thank you for the honor you have been 
pleased to confer upon me, I am well aware that, should my 
administration prove to be successful, it will be because of the 
cordial support which the various committees and individual mem- 
bers shall give to the general well-being. Persuaded that this 
support will be given cheerfully, I am confident, therefore, that we 
shall take no step backward, because we shall bear in mind that 
conception is merelj- the beginning of endeavor, and these only 
preliminary- steps toward the accomplishment of the end all of us 
have in view. 

We have been promised by the board of supervisors that, when 
the court house — now a-buildtng — is ready for occupancy, quarters 
therein will be provided for our society, and our books, manuscripts 
and other property can then be arranged in such manner as to be 
easy of access and of real, practical value to ourselves and to other 
students. Yet it is to be hoped that we do not remain content even 
with this great gain. It should be our continual aim, and I think 
that we are all of this opinion, to make every effort tending towards 
obtaining a home of our own, nor should we relax our efforts 
until the end is gained. It was hoped that aid from the state, in the 



i6 Inaugural Address of President. 

sbape of an appropriation, would be extended to us by the legisla- 
ture now in session, and the necessary bill had been prepared by a 
member from the countj- of Los Angeles, but, it seems, the law 
forbids such appropriation of the public funds, and we must depend 
upon ourselves for the realization of our wishes. The gods help 
him who helps himself, and I doubt not that our energy will prove 
equal to the occasion. I suggest that the constitution be so 
amended as to provide for the creation of a standing committee on 
life-memberships, and that it shall be the duty of this committee to 
invite citizens of Southern California to become life-members of the 
society, with the distinct understanding that all sums obtained from 
the payment of life-membership dues be set apart as a fund for the 
purchase of a building-site, and the erection thereon and proper 
furnishing of a suitable building. It is well known that there are 
many patriotic and wealthy citizens of Southern California, who, 
it cannot be doubted, would become life-members of the society on 
condition that the amounts paid by them for such memberships 
should be so dedicated, and, it seems to me, it might not be impos- 
sible to obtain from some wealthy resident of a citj". of which all 
residents are so properly proud, the gift of a site on which to build. 
In no more fitting way could some one of the many public-spirited 
individuals among us transmit an honored name to the respectful 
admiration of those who shall come after us. 

As yet the society has no legal being. At our recent annual 
meeting, with gratifying unanimity, you were pleased to take the 
most important step which, in my opinion, has been taken since 
we first assembled together. Until now we have formed merely an 
association of ladies and gentlemen held together by a commoo 
love of inquiry in the broad field of historic and scientific research; 
yet. as a society, having no legal existence, nor any well defined 
right to hold the valuable property we consider ours. We have 
good reason to congratulate ourselves that we are so soon to becoine 
a corporation duly organized under the laws of the state. This 
legal status once acquired, it can not be doubted that many who 
now hold aloof will join us as active co-workers in our important 
undertaking, and that many others will present to us the books, 
documents and collections of other kinds we cannot hope to receive 
othenvise. Indeed I am assured that there are many such persons 
who await the desired con.su mmalion in order to bring gifts to Uie 
society. 

There exist in our archives many valuable papers od varioos 
subjects, which have beeu read before the society but whicb still 
remain in manuscript. The advisabilit>' of secnring in a more 



I 



» 



Inaugural Address of President. 17 

permanent manner the usefulness of these contributions to knowl- 
edge is patent to all, and I recommend that the committee on 
publications take the necessarj' steps for the printing of these papers 
at as early a date as may be practicable. 

Although some weeks must pass before we shall be able to take 
possession of our promised quarters in the court-house, it will be 
advisable for us to consider, meanwhile, that we shall be called 
upon to furnish these <iiiarters appropriately. I suggest, therefore, 
that, if this very important matter come not within the province of 
some one of our actual standing committees, a special committee 
be appointed whose duty it shall be to solicit, from members and 
from citizens, friendly to and interested in the welfare of the society, 
subscriptions to a fund for the proper furnishing of the rooms of 
the society. 

In order to carry out the various suggestions which I have 
thought it my duty to make to you, to the consideration of which 
I earnestly invite your attention, it is obvious that the general 
fund must be considerably increased. While the list of active 
members is increasing constantly, the amount received from dues 
paid by members will not be sufficient, in future, for our needs. 
It may, or it may not be, advisable to increase the annual dues of 
active members to five dollars; but let us remember that each of us 
should consider himself one of a committee which is not appointed 
under the rules but which includes all of us. and endeavor 
to add as many names as possible to the list of active merabers. 

In this connection, and it seems to me a feasible way of increasing 
the general fund, I suggest that the society should, as soon as may 
be, undertake the management of a course of lectures or other suit- 
able public entertainments. This is in accord with the spirit of our 
constitution, and would not only prove to be a prolific source of 
revenue to the society, but would be productive of lasting benefit 
to the general public. 

It is not necessary for me to remind you that we shall not be 
able to advance the objects for the furtherance of which we are 
associated except it be by systematic work. The objects for which 
this society exists are many in number, and I am very confident 
that there is not one of our members whose views on one, or more, 
of the topics mentioned in the constitution could fail to be of 
interest and benefit to that society in a more extended sense of 
which we are all members. We have accomplished a great deal; 
but we can, and should, accomplish a great deal more. It is to be 
hoped, therefore, that the various committees, in the discharge of 
their duties, will foment the reading of papers on branches of 



1 8 hiaugural Address of Presideyit, 

investigation to which members of the society have given special 
attention. 

I recommend, further, the creation of a standing committee 
charged with the duty of collecting books, manuscripts and objects 
of all kinds which may be worthy of preservation, and which 
should be solicited from persons now possessing them, for we are 
all aware that many such books, documents and objects exist in the 
possession of a generation now passing away rapidly. There are 
many who do not properly esteem these treasures; many who 
would cheerfully surrender to an institution such as ours, the 
custodianship — for, practically, this society is merely the custodian 
of things which in a sense belong to the community at large — of 
things that assuredly would be more safely guarded and preserved 
for posterity if deposited in the archives of this society. Time is 
the devourer of all things, and if a society such as ours do not 
interest itself in their preservation, within a very few years many 
things, that would prove of inestimable value to the future historian 
of the great and growing region we inhabit, will be lost forever. 
Especial attention should be given to the collection of autobio- 
graphies of both men and women among those who dwelt here 
before the American occupation of California and of pioneers of the 
existing commonwealth. This is a field that has been but hastily 
reaped, and the gleaning maj' well prove to be of greater value 
than the scanty crop harvested by historians. 

In conclusion I recommend a careful consideration of the 
by- laws, which, after incorporation, we must necessarily adopt. 







iS^niual lle|jort of tl;? Seffe^ac^ foi" I89G. 



To thf President, Officers and Members 

of the Historical Society of Southern California: 
Your St:crttaTy frro tempore begs leave to submit the following 
report of doings ot the society and of his office for the year 1890: 

ABSTRACT OF MEETINGS HELD DURING THE YEAR. 

January 6 — Active members present. 17. Voted to expunge 
from the minutes of December 9, 1889, resolutions of inquiry 
offered by B. A. C. Stephens about the actions of the Lewis Publish- 
ing Company of Chicago in reference to the publication of the "Los 
Angeles County History," President E. W. Jones read his retir- 
ing address. Secretary B. A. C. Stephens filed his annual report 
for the year 1889. Treasurer J. M. Guinn filed his annual report 
for 1889. Curator Ira More filed his annual report for 1889. C. 
N. Wilson, chairman of the Botany Committee, filed his annual ^ 
report for iSSg. 

The following officers were elected for the year 1890: 

President, J. M. Guinn. First Vice-President, George Butler ' 
Griffin: Second Vice-President, E. W. Jones; Secretary. B. A. 
C. Stephens, (re-elected second time); Treasurer, H. D. Barrows; 
Curator. Ira More, (re-elected); H. Jay Hanchette and M. C. 
Westbrook were elected active members. 

January 13 — Active members present, 13. On motion of George 
Butler Griffin, Section 3, Article V, of the By-Laws was amended 
so as to permit active members in arrears to be re-instated upon 
the payment of delinquent dues. William A. Burr elected an 
active member. ' H. D. Barrows, chairman of the History Com- 
mittee, filed a majority report in reference to the Lewis Publishing 
Company's history of Los Angeles county. J. M. Guinn, chair- 
man of the Meteorological Committee, filed the annual report 
of that committee. 

February 3 — Active members present, 9, Richard Gird, Esq., 
of the Chino ranch, a benefactor of the society, was elected an 
honorary- member. Judge David M. Adams presented the society 
with a life-sized crayon portrait of Don Juan J. Warner, for which 
thanks were tendered. B. A. C. Stephens read a paper on the 
"Historj' of Fort Moore." 



20 AiiHUal Report of Secretary. ^^^| 

February 4 — Active members present, 21. Reception of Dr. 
Lyman C. Draper, of Madison, Wisconsin. General John Mans- 
field delivered the address of welcome. Dr. Draper responded in a 
long and interesting address to the society on the best methods of 
historical work. 

March 3 — Active members present. 13. President Guinn 
appointed the standing committees for the year 1890. B. A. C. 
Stephens. Ira More and George Butler Griffin appointed a special 
committee to revise the constitution and by-laws. 

April 7 — Active members present, 13, C. L. Goodwin read a 
paper by Isaac Kinley "On the Fallacy of Reasoiiing from Co- 
incidences," George Butler Griffin read a paper on his "Survey 
of Tampico Bar. ' ' 

May 5 — Active members present, 7. C. L. Goodwin read a 
paper by Hon. John A. Wills on "The origin of the Phrase, "Polyg- 
amy and Slavery, Twin Relics of Barbarism.' " 

June 2 — Active members present, 9. J. M. Guinn read a paper 
on the "Fragments of Local History." 

July 7 — Active members present, 6. (One less than 3 quorum). 

B. A. C. Stephens filed his resignation papers as secretary', also a 
list of donations to the society. Accepted. Communication from J. 

C. Nevin announcing thedeath of Dr. C. C. Parry, an eminent scien- 
tist, and also presented a biographical sketch of the deceased. George 
Butler Griffin presented the society with a bas-relief of himself, the 
work of his oldest daughter Eva Rosa Griffin. Resolutions again 
adopted urging the board of supervisors of Los Angeles county to 
have the Spanish archives translated into English. C. L. Good- 
win elected secretary. 

September i — Active members present, 11. The Publication 
Committee reported the publication of 500 copies of the annual 
pamphlet at a cost of $95.20, E. W, Jones reported the discovery 
of a bed of fossil clams in the excavation for the mansion of George 
R. Shatto on Orange street, in Los Angeles city. The thanks of 
the society were tendered B. A. C. Stephens for his historical dona- 
tion made last July. 

October 6— Active members present, 12. J. M. Guinn read a 
paper on "Historical Myths." H. D. Barrows read a paper on 
"General John Charles Fremont." Resolutions adopted thanking 
the board of supervisors of Los Angeles county for having the 
work of translating the Spanish archives commenced. Hon. 
Henrj- Hamilton, of San Gabriel, donated the files of the Los 
Angeles Star from January. 1.S55. to October, 1864. and from May, 
1868, to May. 1S70. 



Annual Report of Secretary. 21 

November 3 — B. A. C. Stephens appointed Secretary pro 
tempore. Active members present, 13. George Butler Griffin 
read a paper on a "Map of the Northern California Missions; also 
translations of proclamations by Govenor Juan Bautista Alvarado, 
of 1840. and Governor Pio Pico, of [S46. Dr. Wm. F. Edgar 
read a paper on "Historical Landmarks in the San Joaquin Valley 
— Old Fort Miller." George Butler Griffin read two papers, 
"Historical Myths, No, i," and "Historical Myths, No. 2." J. M. 
Guinn read a paper on the "Early Gold Discoveries in California. " 
Charles W. Darling, of Utica, N. Y. , and Hon. Cornelius Cole, of 
Colegrove. California, were elected corresponding members, 
Charles Putnian Fenner, C. P. Dorland and Frank W. Smith were 
elected active members. 

December i — Active members present, 13. Dr. Wm. F. Edgar 
read a paper on ■ ' Historical Notes on Landmarks in the Sacramento 
andSan Joaquin Valleys — Old Forts Reading and Tejon." George 
Butler Griffin read traslations of a proclamation of Governor Manuel 
Micheltorena, of December i5, 1844, and of the "Expediente" of the 
Santa Gertrudes raiicho: also a translation of a letter from Don 
Antonio F. Coronel to Rev. Joachim Adam. Mary E. liart, of Long 
Beach, California, was elected a corresponding member. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Total number of meetings, 13. Average attendance, 12. Total 
number of active members elected: H. Jay Hanchette, M. C. 
Westbrook, William A. Burr, Charles Putnam Fenner, Frank W. 
Smith and C. P. Dortand, 6. Total number of corresponding 
members elected: Charles W. Darling, Hon. Cornelius Cole, and 
Mary E. Hart. 3. Total number of honorary- members elected: 
Richard Gird, Esq.. i. Total number of papers read; By E. W. 
Jones, i: Isaac Kiuley, i; B. A. C. Stephens, i; J. M. Guinn, 3; 
John A. Wills, i; J. C. Nevins, i: H. D. Barrows, i; George 
Butler Griffin, 9; Wm. F. Edgar. 2; L. C. Draper, i; Total. 21. 
Six reports of officers and committees were filed. 500 annual pam- 
phlets were published and distributed among the historical societies, 
colleges and libraries of the United States. The receipts were $82,- 
50, and the expenses were $r2o.45. "^'^^ donations, in the way of 
bound books, pamphlets, newspapers, manuscripts, photographs, 
maps and curios were too numerous to burden the miuutes with 
their mention. 

Your secretary served as such from January 1S89, to July, 
1890, when he resigned, owing to his absence iu Lower Califoniia, 
Mexico, and C. L. Goodwin. Esq., was elected to the office, which 




22 Annual Report of Secretary. 

he had filled pro tempore (roin March, 1890, til! July, 
thence, by election, unto and including October, 1890, when t 
moved to Washington. D. C, and your secretary was appoiute 
/^M^drf for November and December, i8qo; hence devolved opon 
him the duty of making out this annual report. As the socie^ 
grows older, and the membership and collections increase, 
the work of recording and correspondence likewise enlarges, as it 
has been doing for the two years last past, during all of which dme 
your secretaries, as well as those from the organization of the 
society, have served without any financial remuneration. 

Yours very truly, 

B. A. CECIL-STEPHEXS. 
Los Angeles, Januarj- 5, 1S91. SezreXary pro tempore. 




Mnnual l^eport of fl^e ^rGasurer for I89G. 



t « (I 



To the Historical Society of Southern California : 

I herewith submit Treasurer's Report for 1890, to- wit, from 
January 6, 1890 to January 5, 1891: 

To cash on hand January 6, 1890 $94.45 

Admission fees 12. 00 

Dues 70 50 

$176.95 

expenditures: 

By cost of Annual Publication $95 . 20 

* * Miscellaneous expenses 25 . 25 

120.45 

Balance Cash on hand January 5, 1891, $56.50 

H. D. BARROWS, 

Treas. Historical Society of 
Southern California. 

Los Angeles, Jan. 5, 1891. 



sAnnual I^epQrt of tl?e (;urafor for IS^O- 



To the President and Members 

of the Historical Society of Southern Cali/omia: 

Owing to the fact that our collection is at present boxed and 
stored in the museum at the State Normal School building in this 
city, by the courtesy of the trustees of that institution, and as the 
society expects to soon have ample quarters in the new county 
court-house, where the collection can be properly displayed and cat- 
alogued, I am uuable to give more thau a general summary of what 
I have in my charge, which is as follows: 

Bound volumes, 500; pamphlets, 2500: newspaper files, lOO: 
maps, 200: photographs, too; manuscripts, 500; special editions of 
newspapers, 100; besides a iarge amount of printed matter of all 
kinds; one case of mineral specimens and one case of curios and 
relics: and four cannon. 

I call especial attention to the donation by Richard Gird. Esq., 
of a finely bound set of H. H. Bancroft's histories, 3a in namber. 

B. A. C. Stephens, our secretary, also donated his entire histor- 
ical collection pertaining to Southern California, which he was sev- 
eral years in making, and consisting of 48 bound volumes, 495 pam- 
phlets, 53 copies of special editions of newspapers, 618 newspapers 
containing historical articles, 66 maps, la photographs, several 
autograph letters of prominent people, a large number of valuable 
manuscripts and documents, a case of mineral specimens, and 
several thousand newspaper clippings on historical and miscel* 
laneous subjects. 

The recent donation by Dr. Wm. F. Edgar c4 153 bound volumes 
and several hundred pamphlets, some of the books being very old, 
is worthy of especial commendation. 

The complete files of the Los Angeles Daily Tribune, covering 
a period ol four years and two months, were purchased at a cost of 

$tI,OQ. 

A very valuable donation was recently received from the West 
Virginia Historical and Antiquarian Society, consisting o( several 
bound volumes, and pamphlets pertaining to the history of that 
state. Donations are also acknowledged from many other htstorical 
societies, 



Annual Report of Curator. 25 

A large number of public documents from the different depart- 
ments at Washington, D. C, and Sacramento have also beea 
received. 

Through the efforts of the secretary nearly every newspaper 
published in Southern California is received for filing in our 
archives, 

By the courtesy of Brigadier General A. D. McD. McCook, 
commanding the Department of Arizona, the society has been 
given possession of the four old caunon in this city, which were 
used in the Mexican war against the American army, and captured 
by the latter. 

Donations continue to come in at such a rapid rate that very 
soon the society will be compelled to employ a librarian to give his 
sole time to their care. 

The following publications are received and placed on file in the 
archives : 

Dailies — Courier, San Bernardino: Enterprise. Riverside; Ex- 
press, 1,0s Angeles; Herald, Los Angeles; Independent, Santa 
Barbara; Observer, Ventura; Press, Riverside; Press, Santa Ana: 
San Diegan, San Diego; Star, Tucson; Times, Los Angeles. 

Weeklies — Alliance Farmer, Los Angeles; Bee, South River- 
side; Breaker, Long Beach; California, Los Angeles; Champion, 
Chino; Chronicle, Colton; Citizen, East Los Angeles; Citrograph, 
Redlands; Compass, Redondo Beach ; Eye, Needles; Facts, Redlands; 
Gazette, Anaheim; Gazette, Lancaster; Herald, Banning; Indepen- 
dent, Independence: Journal, Fullerton: Kaleidoscope. San Bernar- 
dino; Lower Californian, Ensenada; Messenger. Monrovia; New 
Era, Perris; News, Orange; Observer, Ontario; Phcenix, Riverside; 
Pointer, Whittier; Poraotropic, Azusa; Record. Ontario; Register, 
Bishop: Register, Pomona; Register, San Jacinto: Sentinel, Julian; 
Sentinel, Yuma; Standard, Santa Ana: Star, Pasadena; Siid 
Califoniia Post, Los Angeles; Times-Index, San Bernardino; Times, 
Lancaster; Times, Pomona; Workman. Los Angeles. 

Monthly — Orange Belt, Alessandro. 

Magazines — West American Scientist. Science and Horticulture, 
Iowa Historical Record, American Geographical Society Bulletin, 
Pacific Coast Monthly. 

Very re.spectfully, 

IRA MORE, 
Lcs An'GHLES, July I, 1891. Curator. 



^nncaal ^epGpt of ^istopieal Qoffimiiiee. 



The Historical Committee of the Historical Society of Southern 
California respectfully reports that, during the years 1889-90— since 
the date of last report — ^there have been read before the society, 
translations accompanied by historical and explanatory notes, of the 
following documents: 

1. The letter which General Sebastian Vizcaino wrote from the 
bay of Monterey, dated December 28, 1602. 

2. A printed proclamation of Governor Alvarado, without date, 
but issued December, 1840. 

3. A manuscript proclamation of Govenor Pico, dated July 27, 
1846. 

4. The patent oftheRanchoSanta Gertrudes, dated May 22, 1834. 

5. A letter of A. F. Coronel, relating to the founding of Los 
Angeles, dated April 11, 1888. 

6. A printed proclamation of Govenor Micheltorena, dated De- 
cember 16, 1844. 

Also the probable date and authorship of a manuscript map of 
the missions of Alta California were treated of in a communication 
read before the society. 

Original historical papers read before the society are mentioned 
in the report of the Publication Committee. 

Respectfully, 
GEO. BUTLER GRIFFIN, 

C/iairman. 
LOS .\NGELES. January 5. 1891. 




lit •- ' 



pirst eAnr\ua! I^e|3ort 



©omrnittee on Geniealogtj and ^epaldpy. 



[ 



I To Ike Historical Society of Southern California: 

We, the undersigned, your Committee on Genealogy and Her- 
aldry, hereby submit our first annual report. 

We find by the minutes of April i, 1889, that on motion, a 
committee was constituted on heraldry andgenealogy in accordance 
with the following resolution: 

Resolved. That a Committee on Genealogy and Heraldry be 
added to the list of the regular standing committees of the society, 
and that the President be authorized to appoint two members of the 
society on the said committee." 

No report was made for the year 1889. as the work was compara- 
tively new to members of the committee; nevertheless, some pre- 
liminary work was done, especially in the department of heraldry. 

As many do not see the utility of the creation of this depart- 
ment of hi.storical work in our society, we herewith present 
what we consider some valid reasons for the same. Historical work 
generally includes the public events of the world, and deals little 
with even the great personages of its dramas, unless it be to 
occasionally and briefly present a biography. The reason for this 
Way be what Macaulay term.s the ' 'perspective of history. ' ' Regard- 
ing time as a picture, individuals would naturally disappear in the 
dim distance of the receding past before nations, the larger bodies, 
would vanish. 

The study of the history of nations is always recommended (or 
the reason that the coming generations can profit by the history of 
those past. How often is the history of the ancient Roman repub- 
lic, with its concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few 
preceding its downfall, held up as a waniiug to our American 
republic lo avoid a like fate! If nations can thus receive benefit from 
the history- of nations, why may not individuals likewise receive 
benefit ironi the history of individuals, and particularly from the 
line of their own desceut? 



28 Report of the Commiltee on Genealogy and Heraldry. 

The principal cause for the neglect of the study of geaeslog] 
and its companion — heraldrj' — on this continent undoubtedly 
sprang from the extreme American antipathy to everything English, 
a strong sentiment created by the Revolution. But of late yeaiSi 
there has been a remarkable revulsion of feeling on this point, and 
everywhere, particularly in the Atlantic States, people are looking 
up their genealogies. Old bibles are being opened, family papers 
looked up. public records searched, and even tombstones are 
carefully scrutinized for a missing date or coat of arms. The 
number of family histories published in America within the past 
twenty years reaches into the thousands. Several societies and 
publishing houses are wholly devoted to this line of reseai^h; 
notable among the former are the Huguenot Society of New Vork, 
the New Vork Genealogical Society, and the Rhode Island Gene- 
alogical Society, the last named society having published several 
large volumes. Joe! Munsell's Sons of Albany. N. Y., is one of] 
the oldest publishing houses in this line, Mr. Joel Munsell liaviof 
been in the business over forty years ago. There are several east 
ern magazines devoted wholly to genealogical subjects. 

Their research has gone not only to American evidence, bdl 
they have crossed the Atlantic ocean, and the archives of Greal 
Britain, Holland. Germany and France have yielded rich treasurS 
of knowledge on questions of American genealogj'. Already haw 
the names of each and every British immigrant to America pre\'iottl 
to the year A. D. 1700 been secured and published, and it is to b) 
hoped that it will not be long before the list will be brought dowo 
to the year rSoo. 

The formation of certain American societies makes genealogical 
lore valuable. The Order of the Cincinnati was composed at Gra 
of the commissioned officers of the Revolutionary army. It is sttll 
kept alive by admitting the oldest male heir of each original mem-< 
ber. The Society of California Pioneers has founded the Junioi 
Pioneers, admitting thereto only the descendants of its own meni' 
bers. The Grand Army of the Republic, composed solely of Untoi 
soldiers of the Rebellion, has a similar organization in the Sons q 
Veterans, whose name indicates the character of its memberships 
The Militarj' Order of the Loyal Legion, composed only of con 
missioned officers of the Union army in the Rebellion, has rale 
in this regard, similar to the Order of the Cincinnati. 

The study of genealog>' is not only a pleasing gratification of 1 
laudable curiosity, but it is an incentive to patriotism, and increase 
family love and pride and veneration for our ancestors, and thus 
as Macaulay says, entitles us to the respect and remembrance d 



r 



Report of the CommilUe on Genealogy and Heraldry. 



i 



\ 



29 

our posterity. Who is there among us who will iiot feel more 
firmly bound to his country if he knows that he had s great-grand- 
father who fought in the Revolution, a grandfather who bore arms 
in 1812, and a father who went to the front in the Rebellion? 
Already through the brief investigations of this committee, not 
only have long-separated branches of families been pleasantly re- 
united but communication has been re -established between other 
branches who had lost all trace of each other for nearly two hun- 
dred years. 

There is another, and perhaps the greatest, benefit to be derived 
from a careful study of genealogy', and that is a revival of the 
science of stirpi culture. Application being made to a famous 
horse-breeder of Kentucky for some information about his ancestry, 
he replied. "Whylknow more aboutthcpedigree of my horses than 
I do of my own," As if the genus homo is of less importance than 
ijthe genus equus! If "a sound mind dwells in a sound body," and 
the lower grades of the anima! kingdom can be bred to such high 
degrees of physical superiority, reason urges that man. standing at 
the head of the animal kingdom, can likewise receive the benefit of 
the same laws, not applied with Spartan heroism but rationally 
and conserv'atively. The revival of physical training in our schools 
is certainly a step in that direction, and a right one, and, surely, if 
one knows the physical virtues and vices of his ancestors, he can 
at least direct the stream of his descent, so as, in a measure, to 
preserve the one and lose some of the other. These ideas are cer- 
tainly in accord with those of many learned writers on hygiene. 
Who knows but that here in America, where there is a grand re- 
mingling of the blood of the Aryan family — Kelts, Teutons, 
Sclavs, Latins and Greeks — there will yet be produced, by 
observance of these scientific laws, a grander grade of manhood 
than that of which our remote ancestors boasted upon the uplands 
of Asia? • 

Nor is the art of heraldry to be despised. It is of the greatest 
assistance in the study of genealogy. The following is condensed 
from the London Encyclopedia as explanatory on the subject: 

Armorial ensigns are hereditary marks of honor made up of 
fixed and determined colors and figures, sometimes bestowed by 
jsovereign princes as a reward for militarj- valor or eminent public 
■ervices. They also serve to denote the descent and alliance of 
the bearer, or to distinguish cities, societies, etc., whether civil, 
military or ecclesiastical. Arms were first used by commanders in 
'ar to distinguish their persons to their friends and followers. 
[Bomer, Ovid and Virgil relate that their heroes had divers figures 



io 



Report of the ComniilU-e on Genealogy and Heraldry. 



knowB. H 

; times of H 
iced and H 
of fami- H 



on their shields whereby their persons were dis:inctl: 
The same is true of our Americau Indians. 

The origin of heraldrj' as an art must be referred to the times of 
Chariemagne and Frederick Barbarossa. since it commenced and 
increased under the feudal system. The hereditary arras of fami- 
lies did not begin till toward the close of the fourth century. 
Coats of arms first originated in the German tournaments, being a 
sort of livery made up of several lists (strips), fillets (threads or 
cords) , or narrow pieces of stuff of various colors, whence came the 
y«i, the if'/rf and the z^u/i', indicating the manner in which those 
bands were originally worn; these being tlie most ancient charges 
of family arms, since those who had never been at tournameiltS' 
wore no such marks of distinction. 

The adventurers who enlisted in the crusades also assumed 
several new figures formerly unknown in armorial ensigns, such as 
allerions, bezants, escallop-shells, martlets, etc., but more particu- 
larly crosses of different colors and shapes, of which there are at 
least twenty -two varieties. 

The introduction o( armorial bearings into England is referred 
to the second crusade in A. D. 1147. About 1 189 the arms were 
usually depicted upon a small escutcheon and worn at the belt. 
King Richard I is the earliest instance of their being home upon 
an ordinary shield, though they are found on seals of the seventh 
and eighth centuries. Heraldry, like most human inventions, was 
introduced and established gradually, and, after having been mde 
and unsettled for many ages, it was at least methodized and fixed 
by the crusades and tournaments. 

These marks are called arms because they were worn by miU- 
tarj' men at war or tournaments. They are also called coats <rf 
arms because they were formerly worked upon coats worn over 
armor. There are nine different kinds, viz. , arms of 

1. Dominion, borne by emperors, kings and states. Under 
this head come the arms of the United States of America and of 
the State of California, although it must be admitted that the latter 
was not constructed with any regard to the rules of heraldry. 

2. Pretention, of a political division claimed by a king, etc. 

3. Concession, given by princes as a great reward. 

4. Community, of cities, societies, etc. The arms of the city of 
Los Angeles are argent charged with a bunch of misston 
grapesy*^o/fr. Our historical society, not yet having incorporated,* 
has selected no seal, and it is to be hoped that when it does that 
some attention will be given to the laws governing the same. 



r 



tered with fipKn bdiI Mexico 
ly ruled duatliec 11 ('■!" 



Report of the Committee on Getiealogy and Heraldry. 31 

The seal should have the two striking characteristics of simplicity 
and appropriateness. 

5. Patronage, such arms of states, manors, etc. , as the governors, 
etc. , add to their own. 

6. Family, belonging exclusively to certain families which none 
others have the right to assume. In Great Britain, violations of 
this law did render all articles bearing arms of families, and owned 
by persons not entitled to wear them, subject to seizure and 
confiscation by the earl marshal. Under the British law of 
primogeniture only the oldest male heir is allowed to use the full 
coat of arms of his ancestors together with the supporters, crest, 
and motto. The other male heirs may use the same but it must be 
charged with a difference, as a label, crescent, etc., of which there 
are some thirty-six distinguishing ** marks of cadency," as they are 
called. The female heirs and their descendants are entitled only to 
the shield, and this must be of a lozenge shape for the female, but 
this is not held under the Scotch law. 

There are many families in Southern California, who, by right 
of descent, are entitled to coats of arms, and this committee would 
like to hear from all such, and receive copies of their coats and 
lineage. 

7. Alliance, added by marriage and quartered. 

8. Succession, added by inheritance and quartered. 

9. Assumptive, ' 'taken by caprice, ' ' says the above named auth- 
ority, and, it might be added, without regard to * 'rhyme or reason." 
America, with all of its democracy of sentiment, is, perhaps, more 
cursed with arms assumptive than any other country. Where per- 
sons of no intellectual education and of obscure descent, become 
financially independent, their first impulse is to assume a coat of 
arms. Generally a book on peerage is consulted, and if a family is 
found of the same name, whether related or not, their coat is at once 
dishonestly assumed, and blazoned on house, plate, carriage, lodge 
and livery; or a jeweler is employed, who does the stealing by proxy 
or constructs a coat out of his own mind without regard to heraldic 
laws. As a consequence some funny things happen, as on the fa- 
cades of several prominent residences in this city there are coats of 
arms charged with a bend sinister. The bend sinister is a sign of il- 
legitimate descent, which the wealthy owners, perhaps both igno- 
rantly and innocently, publish to the world. 

We think it should be laid down as one of the cardinal rules of 
this society that no coat of arms should be recorded in our archives 
until the right of the claimant thereto has been fully established. 



32 Report of the Commit tte on Genealogy and Heraldry 

The number and names of genealogies filed by your committee 
the past year (1890) in your archives have been: 

1. The Weir family genealogy. 

2. The descent of George Butler Griffin from Jesse De Forrest, 
the founder of New York. 

3. The descent of Charles Putnam Fenner from John Putnam. 

4. Joshua Stephens' Family History. 

5. Clippings from the Richmond, Va., Critic. 

6. Family History of Hon. William Vandever. 
We invite all the members of the society to prepare and file 

with us their respective genealogies, and as many others as can be 
obtained. 

Respectfully submitted, 

! B. A. Cecil-Stephens, Chairman. 

Geo. Butler Griffin, 
M. C. Westbrook, 

Los Angeles, January 5, 1891. Committee, 




Annual I^eporf of \\iq (^ommittee on MGfGorolo^\^. 



To the President, Officers ayid Members 

of the Historical Society of Southern California: 

^^HE phenomena of the medium, in which we live and have our 
r^ being, have given the name to the growing science of meteor- 
ology; and, although so old as to ha ve been known and referred 
to, in about the same sense it is now, by Aristotle, 300 years B. C. , 
when he wrote concerning water, ^ir and earthquakes, yet it was 
not until the middle of the 17th century, when the thermometer 
and barometer had become available, that it began to assume more 
importance, but the science of modern meteorology as renovated by 
telegraphy in the transmission of weather observations, may be 
said to have been realized not more than a quarter of a century ago, 
and now, at this day, the percentage of successful weather forecasts 
seems to depend only on the wide distribution of many observations, 
promptly and correctly reported. 

I quote from the advance report of the chief signal officer of 
the army in regard to weather and temperature predictions, which 
says, "that they have increased in the percentage of accuracy from 
78.3 percent, in 1887, to 83.8 per cent, in 1889, and that on a 
general average of all these observations, they amount to 86 per 
cent. , and that 98 per cent, of all the important cold waves were 
successful forecasts." Of these cold waves. Prof. Russell reports 
691 as occurring between 1880 and 1890. The predictions in regard 
to the extraordinary floods of this most extraordinary year, just 
closed, wxre, in the main, correctly reported — according to the same 
authority. We also learn from this same report that 1000 of the 
more violent storms and tornadoes together caused the deaths of 
107 1 people, and a loss of about $23,000,000 (during last year) in 
property in the United States. It is also stated in this connection 
that in the last 18 years, the annual death rate from tornadoes 
is, on an average, about 102: and yet in no state, it is said, may 
a destructive tornado be expected oftener than once in two years. 
These storms and tornadoes seem to have attracted more general 
attention throuf^hout the country since the occurrence of the one 
that did so much daina;^e to the city of Louisville, Kentucky, in 



34 Annual Report of the Committee on Meteorology. 

March last, than formerly, and have since been reported as occur- 
ring in various parts of the country' as well as in other parts of the 
world with which we are in communication. 

There has been, and is, a strong desire among the people to 
ascertain, if possible, the cause of these fearful and destructive 
agencies, with the view of escaping their horrible effects, but noth- 
ing in the power of man has been suggested. A few scientists 
have suggested, as a cause, the old *'sun spot theor>%*' while 
others believe that the primary cause is to be found in the electrical 
condition of the sun as compared to that of the earth, but it is 
known, by those who study the phenomena of storms of all kinds, 
that they originate as far as the earth apparently is concerned in 
the unequal distribution of heat and moisture, mostly in certain 
areas of the earth's surface, and that under certain complicated condi- 
tions including an initial center of greater heat than the surrounding 
cold air, inducing an ascending buoyant current, from this warmer 
central air, which, with the motion of the earth on its axis, together 
with the pressure of the inflowing air, produces a gyrator}' motion, 
and with a sufficiently saturated condition of some of the air to 
keep up an unstable equilibrium, an upward votex results, from 
which the terrible cyclone is soon formed. 

The storms and tornadoes that result in cyclones seem to start 
originall}' from the vicinity of the poles of the earth; these, whose 
effects we hear most of, from the north pole, which travel south- 
easterly, pushing across our lowest mountains in tlie far north- 
west, and spending the greater part of their force in those cyclonic 
areas toward the center of the continent, and finally disappearing 
off the Atlantic coast. 

Coining to the meteorology with which we are more especial- 
ly concerned, we may congratulate ourselves that we do not live 
in a cyclonic area, since we know the awful results to some of the 
inhabitants of such areas during the past year. 

We so far have an immunity from these disasters, which we get 
chiefly from being protected on one side by the more equable tem- 
perature of the Pacific ocean, and on the other by a high range of 
mountains. In this locality sand storms, occasionally, and the cold 
drying north-winds, especially towards spring-time, are about the 
most disagreeable winds that we have, and they break througli the 
mountain passes, while we usually have a low barometer with 
a higli temperature during the day with cold nights, generally, as 
against a high barometer and low temperature on the northern 
part of the coast. This condition here is usually followed by 
rain in three or four days, and cooler weather. 



r 



■.ntial R'-por( of t/ie C'>mtU!lt€f oh Afflcarology. 35 

Some meteorological observers remark that our rain-storms 
here are accompanied by more electricitj- and thunder latterly 

I than formerly. What effect, if any. the developement and use of so 
much electricity during the past few years, together with the bands 
tA iron connecting us with other parts of the continent, may have 
In this relation, has not yet. so far as I know, been scientifically 
investigated. 
The climate of this coast is greatly modified by the ocean — 
especially that of our own locality — in being open to the cooling 
breezes. The south-west winds, sometimes called '"return trade 
winds." are generally the or;|g-/««/ source of our moisture in the 
form of fogs and rains — although the south-east winds usually 
deposit the rain on the southern part of the coast. The winds 
that bring the fogs are more or less saturated with mois- 
ture by the great Japanese current, the "Kuro Siwo." or "black 
stream," which, it is said, flows towards our northern coast at the 
rate of about 10 miles an hour. These winds strike our coast far 
to the northward, cooled and saturated with moisture from the 
current — the greater part of which is deposited before their influ- 
ence reaches us, but they are still moist enough to transfer to us, 
after cooling down our atmosphere, rain in winter and in the sum- 
mer fog which results from the condensing qualities of their low 
temperature. These fogs do good in passing over the laud, in the 
course of least resistance, across the valleys, through the mountain 
passes, and along their cool high crests southward until met by the 
rarefied warm air from across easteni deserts and plains, as at the 
San Gorgonio pass where the writer has seen them disappear like 
a flash. Our high mountain ranges are condensers of moisture, 
and generally in their vicinitj- there is greater precipitation than 
out on the more distant plains. Although our rains usually 
come from the south-east, we sometimes have, when the tempera- 
ture has been brought down low enough by the rains from the 
usual quarter, very heavy rainstorms from the north-east; but 
generally they only last as the low temperature does, the wind 
veering back to the south-east and then as it cools and clears up, 
to the south-west and west. Our weather here is affected 
more or less by general and wide-spread storms in the east, as was 
the case in the general wide-spread storm reported as having com- 
I menced December 26, which was a violent snow storm general all 
■'Over New England, some of the Middle and Western states with 
B«now in some places from 13 to 18 inches deep, with the tempera- 
re from 10" to 15" or degrees below zero, while Los Angeles 
mperature as reported the same day from the signal office here 



36 Auiiiial Ri[)orl of the Committee on Meteorology, 



was for the maximum temperature 8j*, but themomingof the 27th 
was cloudy with a maximum temperature of 75'*- December zSlb 
the maximum temperature was 78'^. December3gth,72''. Decem- 
ber joth, morning cloudy with 0.16 inches of rain and maximum 
temperature for the day, 62*^: with very cold weather reported in the 
east and in Europe. Usually, however, the smaller or less uni\"er- 
sal storms there do not affect our weather here, and the further east 
the storm center is. the less we are afiected by it here, as often 
dispatches announce violent rain or snow-storms in Europe when 
we are having fine weather here, as was the case iu the latter part 
of November last, when a snow-stonii was announced in Paris, on the 
English channel, and over Europe generally, while we in Los 
Angeles had fine summer weather. 

It would seem from looking back over the meteorological data 
as far as the record goes, in regard to the weather in California, 
that we have, especially in the southern part of the state, or that we 
have had, years of droughts and floods, running somewhat rh>th- 
micalJy or in other words, that in a yet not very well defined c>"cle 
of years we have had a rather insufficient amount of rain, falling 
sometimes to a drought, and in another similar cycle, in which we 
have had quite a sufficiency of rain, rising occasionally to a flood 
or two. as if there was in nature, atendency to restoie. within a still 
larger undefined cycle of time, an equilibrium in seasons and a 
uniformity in climate. 

Since the season of '49 and '50, according to the oldest record 
that has fallen under my observation, which was kept in Sacramento, 
there has been recorded some half-dozen droughts and about an 
equal number of floods as occurring in the state. The first drought 
mentioned as authentic, as far as I know, is to be found in volume 
VI, of Bancroft's history of California, where droughts are men- 
tioned as occurring in the last decade of the last century and espe- 
cially the one that occurred iu the season of 1784-5. which did 
considerable damage to some of the northern missions. Passing 
over others that have occurred since that time, the data in regard 
to which are not now in my possession, I mention the first ot 
that caused deep distress among some of the 'Americans as well 1 
the native inhabitants of this part of the stale. I refer to the severe 
one of '63-4. About 13 years after this disastrous season, the pre- 
cipitation as recorded in Sacramento was only 7.79 inches. The 
7th season after this ('70-1) the precipitation was8.47. Six years 
after this C'"^-?) 9- '9 inches. In Los Angeles for a port of 
this same season (the signal .'.tation having been established here), 
it is recorded as 5,24 inches. Again in 'Si as 5.53 inches. 



I 



Annual Repoil of the- Commiltee on Mdforohgy. 37 

I quote from the meteorological review of the state in regard to 
the earliest heavy precipitation as recorded in Sacramento. The 
first of importance, that some of the American inhabitants still re- 
member, is that of '52-3 aa36.36 inches at that place. Nine years after- 
wards ('61-3) another is recorded there as 36.10 inches, Six years 
after this ("67-8) 32.79 inches is recorded. For '78 andon to the 
present we quote from the data of the Los Angeles station and in 
that year 20. 86 inches is recorded. In '73-4, 40.39 inches is recorded 
andlastbut not least, '8g-9o,lastseason, isrecordedas34.52inches. 
In '86, also in the month of January, there was a precipitation of 
nearly 8 inches. These precipitations for 10 years back give Los 
Angeles an average annual precipitation of 16.10 inches. 

It may be interesting to make a comparison between one 
or two of our coast climates and one or two of the interior climates. 
According to data from the signal office of Los Angeles for the 
past ten years, tor which I am indebted to the politeness of Mr, G, 
E- Franklin, Los Angeles has an average annual rain-fali for 
that time of 16. 10 inches and an average annual temperature for 
the same time of in round numbers 61" Fahrenheit, with a differ- 
ence between the temperature of the six months of winter or wet 
months of the year (that is from the 30th of September, to the jrHt 
of March) and the six months of summer or warm months (that is 
from the ist of April, to the 30th of September) on the average of 
10" Fahrenheit, or in other words the winter months are on the 
average 10" cooler than the summer months and vice versa. San 
Diego for the same time, according to data for which I am indebted 
to the politeness of Mr. M. L. Hearne. the signal obser^-er there, 
has an average annual rainfall of 10.34 inches and an average 
annual temperature of 60" Fahrenheit, with a difference in tempera- 
ture, between the winter and summer months of 8"^ Fahrenheit, 
whereas Colton, a town on the Southern Pacific R. R. some 58 
miles east of Los Angeles, and about the same distance from the 
coast has, according to data for uw^-yfrar cw/j' ("89-90), for which 
data I am indebted to the chief engineer of the Southern Pacific 
Company. Mr, \Vm. Hood, an annual rainfall or had, last year, of 
14.89 inches and an annual temperature for the same time of ej^g 
with an average difference, for that year, between the winter and 
summer months, of 17° Fahrenheit. 

Riverside, some half dozen miles south of Colton, has, accord- 
ing to data, furnished me, through the politeness of Mr. W. E- 
Keith, a private obsen-er at that place, a rainfall for the last year 
of 18.27 inches and an average annual temperature for the eight 



3S Anpiual Report of the Committee on Meteorology. 

years ending with '89 of 63.67 an average difference between the 
winter and summer months of 13"^. 2 Fahrenheit. 

California has, comparatively, a dr}- atmosphere, especially the 
interior of the southern part of the state, and that is what gives to 
tHose exposed to the fierce rays of its summer sun, the iinmunit>% 
from what is known as "sunstroke/* 

The writer ser\-ed with United States troops, for three or four 
years, in the valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin. He saw 
miners work day after day, barefoot, in the San Joaquin river, with 
the head frequently uncovered and exposed to the sun in an atmos- 
phere from 40''' to 50^' Fahrenheit warmer than the water in which 
they sttKKi. He has also marched with troops across the Colorado 
and Mojave deserts and up and down the Colorado river, all in the 
middle of summer and never vet saw a case of "sunstroke" in 
California. 

Los Angeles, Januan- ^, iSoi. \Vm. F. EDGAR, 

Chairman. 



.V» 




-^r^r^ual I^epDrt of ir^e (^ommiitee on Geology. 



To the Presidrrti and Members of 

Ike Historical Society of Southern California: 

¥OUR Committee on Geology has little of interest to report 
pertaining to this science applicable to Southern California, 
nor any new fact, or event to add to general conditions, 
heretofore so fully given by its predecessor. This can only 
be done, outside of ordinary conditions, by actual field work which 
has not been practicable during the last year. But your committee 

^do not wish to be understood by this simple announcement, as not 
taking interest in the great question of the earth's structure, and 
the laws governing the great energizing form of its internal or 
VUriace movements to such a degree as to appall the human mind 
iiBrbes contemplating the disasters attending the outbreaks of vol- 
canoes and the earthquakes so graphically pictured in history. 
Therefore, in the absence of any striking local event that would 
naturally find its place in this report, it may not be out of place 
for the chainnan of your committee to offer a few reflections on the 
general subject of geology, and cognate subjects ; first absolving the 
other members of the committee from all responsibility for any 
statement he may make, as no pretense to a scientific discussion 
will be attempted; but rather as a layman inquiring as to what we 
do and what we do not know about the earth's structure, and 
about the crust theory and the molten conditions of its center. So 
fixed in the mind of man seems to be this iheorj- that any further 
inquiry almost seems to be precluded, and at the bare suggestion of 
further investigation lor absolute facts, coupled with a determina- 
tion to push the issue for their production, the inquirer is looked 
upon with a kind of solemn awe, as it he were tampering with a 
fate already fixed by some divine decree. 

Yet. seismic and volcanic disturbances continue to manifest 
themselves, as they have manifested themselves since the dawn oi 
history; a time long ante-dating the christian era; and for centu- 
ries the explanation of the cause of these disturbances has been 
such as to confuse rather than enlighten the mind of man. Scten- 



40 Annua/ Report of tite Commiltee on Geology, 

tists, with the aid of fossils and primary igneous rocks, volcanic 
flames, and heated air in deep excavations, have been fortwo haa- 
dred years affirming the cruj/ theory, and ?«D//ffM condition of the 
earth's center. The weakness of their evidence, so long the almost 
sole support of this early accepted theory became so apparent, that 
at length nearly all geologists of our own time, except Lyell. 
abandoned the theor>- as wholly untenable. We may not express 
surprise that .such opinions .should prevail two hundred years ago, 
with the then limited knowledge of the law of physics, and may 
look with charity upon the earlier scientists barring the dogmatism 
and curt language with which these opinions were announced, bat 
for Lyell bred in all the learning of the Scotch school there can 
be no excu.se. His Iheorj' based upon heat, in deep wells, mines, 
and boiling springs, may all appear, and still be explicable from 
natural causes; yet these wholly fail as proof to support the molten 
conditions claimed. 

It is admitted that in the composition of the earth, and in all 
deep excavations or pits, there is found in the progress downward 
a calcareou-s substance, in some form, from the oolite to the mass, 
even insignificant in quantity; yet quite sufficient with the natural 
moisture, or percolating water from the surface, of which the 
earth is full, to generate the heat and gases which our early 
friends supposed came from below; instead of from the union of two 
chemical agents at the point of contact, one of these agents com- 
ing directly from the surface, and, in my view, it is absurd lo sup- 
pose that, because heat may be found at great depths, even accord- 
ing to the formula given of an increase of one degree in every 
fifty feet after the first hundred feet, as we penetrate below the 
earth's surface, it necessarily leads on to a seething cauldron 
and that we mortals, with becoming gravity, are supposed to be 
walking around the peripher>' of its great rim. To this cheerftU 
condition of things, I enter a respectful protest, though the 
assertion have the support of names well known to historic and 
scientific research. Nor is it true, though the heat theory be 
admitted, that combustion in these lower depths does, or can, take 
plade for the want of oxygen to support it, but does take place, and 
can take place only, as the escaping gas. lava and cinders of the 
volcano meets at the craler the oxygen of the outer air. when 
natural combustion takes place and the flame follows the column 
of the outflow. Thus leading to the belief that the whole column 
came in this condition from the indeterminable and unknown 
regions from below, called, for the want of a better name, the 
earth's center. This familiar principle of chemical reaction can 



Annua/ Report of Ihe Committee on Geology. 41 

be illustrated in the laboratory. Therefore, in this view, the 
molten theory seems to me more than a caprice; it is a kind of 
scientific _/("/iVA, in the worship of which so many have heretofore 
acquiesced, because it bore the weight of antiquity, and the author- 
ity of great names known to science. 

Popular discussion of this subject is limited for want of better 
knowledge, and those who do know, or pretend to know, so often 
envelope it in a kind of hazy rhetoric, that the discussion confuses 
rather than enlightens the understanding. 

The argument supporting the heat theory in deep wells and ■ 
mines and supposed to lead up from this molten condition below, 
is more than untenable. 

The deepest mine in the world, up to the later developemeots 
on the Comstock, is located in Bohemia, and has a depth of 3,300 
feel; something over two-thirds of a mile, with a temperature at 
the bottom of 75'"''i«.i'' Fahrenheit. 

The average increase of heat given by geologic authority is slated 
to be about 100° to the mile oi depth. 

The mines on the Comstock have reached a depth one hundred 
feet greater than the Bohemian mine, but temperature is not given. 
The deepest well in history is reported to be at Pesth, Hungary, 
where a depth of S.140 feet has been reached willi a temperature 
of water at the bottom of 15S'' Fahrenheit. At this depth, with 
the alleged ratio of progression as we go down, the degree of heat 
at the bottom should be something over 170*' for the fraction over 
one and two-third miles of depth. Add 75" for the normal of the 
first 100 feet, and we have 245" of heat, or 33" in excess of the 
boiling point of water, rendering all manual labor at less than a 
two-mile depth impracticable, if not impossible. 

On the other hand, what becomes of the rule applied to the sea 
whose specific gravity is one-fifth of the earth, with a radiation 
that much greater, ought to fix a boiling point nearer the surface? 
But facts established by deep sea sounding show the reverse to be 
true, as appears by the report of the Challenger, whose greatest 
recorded depth was 26,850 feet, or something over five miles, and 
the water to be intensely cold". So, if the theorj' oi the ratio of 
increase be as given, the heal at the bottom of the ocean would be 
so great as to fuse many minor metals, and the boiling of the sea 
result. This condition, we know, does not and cannot exist, and 
to my mind this ratio of heat as we go downward is misleading 
and false: and anothef- theory relating to the central condition of 



42 Aniiiiul Kiporl of the Conimtllee oh GeoJogy. 

the earth must be found which shall be more consLstent with 
reason and logical deduction. 

Without attempting to give this tfieor>', 1 claim it is not a 
unreasonable hypothesis to suppose that the earth's center i 
mainly solid, necessarily so in view of the known laws of gravita- 
tion and atmospheric pressure, though rent with surface fissures 
and caverns, with a possibility of lake and river systems tbrougb- 
out its interior structure, and that near the surface, as well as oa 
the outer surface itself. 

These submerged systems may serve as a means of transit from 
point to point of compressed air, or gases seeking an outlet, and 
may be hundreds of miles in extent, as where volcanoes of South 
America are active: those of Central America are in a slate of 
repose, and it is a noticeable fact that, when Maunaloa is in a state 
of eruption, our Pacific coast is quiescent. 

To the force of gravitation and of atmospheric pressure, 
be added the weight oi water present in the atmosphere, which so 
often, in its fall as rain, deluges whole continents with floods 
such a degree as to paralyze the crust theorist, with fear for \ 
safety of his favorite shell, 

The existence of the Mammoth cave of Kentucky and that of tl 
still greater one at LitchfieM in the same state, must be taken H 
be in direct support of Ihe submerged, or internal lake aud riva 
systems. The first of these caves has been explored for a distance 
of ten miles; the latter for /oiirteai miles, with still unexplored: 
regions beyond, and in each cave are deep fissures filled with tor- 
rents of roaring water, rushing on to unknown depths and 
distances. What factors these waters may be. or may become, i 
any of the great seismic or volcanic disturbances of the earth "front 
center to circumference." is not to my mind satisfactorily explained; 
but, however unsatisfactory the alleged causes that produce ihes 
phenomena may be, they still exist, and it is claimed by a Central 
American observer (M. de Montessus), that there is no day, 
any hour in a day, in which they do not manifest themselves 
some part of the globe. Such disturbances are not always formid* 
able or destructive, but are sufficient, as they always have been^ 
to excite apprehension and terror in the mind of man. 

While we do not know positively, I am confirmed in the belief, 
for some time entertained, that these phenomena are due to t 
imponderable quantity in nature known as heat within, instead o( 
below the alleged crust, that to its generation and expansion neai 
the earth's surface are due the geysers and volcanos; that this heaj 
is generated in the earth by the contact of various substances thai 



r 



Annual Rtperi of the Committee on Geology. 43 

go to make up its body, and that in this contact, certain chemical 
reaction takes place by which both gas and heat are generated, 
forming the moving power by which the solved or fused mass finds 
its exit at the crater; that in seeking an outlet, this eruptive energy 
often produces cracks and fissures, and in some instances an 
upheaval of the surface itself, while on the contrary, a rapid 
condensation of this heat to cold, contracting to such a degree as 
to loosen the strain upon the surrounding mass, a sudden closing, 
or impact of the walls takes place with such force as to indicate 
one of the striking features of a genuine earthquake. 

In addition to some of the causes alluded to as producing these 
terrifying temblores. there are two other subtle and fugitive ele- 
ments in nature, that are believed by some to have no unimpor- 
tant part in these terrestial disturbances, natural gas and electricity. 
How far do these affect oscillations or upheavals of the earth? we 
are up to the present time without data to fix a rule to estimate 
their force, or to determine a condition by which their power is 
developed, 

But, as was said interrogatively in the first part of this article, 
there is one thing we do know, and that is there is no power in the 
earth or the atmosphere known to science or mechanics that bears 
any comparison with electricity for destructive energy, and gas is 
only less so under certain conditions, and as the earth is a reser- 
voir for both of these elements, this belief is not without plausi- 
bility, if not force. In addition to the reasons already given, 
another may be urged that should be conclusive against the claim 
oi the central heat and molten condition. 

It is a well known and recognized fact in practical life as well 
as in science, that the mollusk is the representative of the lowest 
form of animal life, and as life can only exist by the unity of heat 
and moisture, it must necessarily follow that the presence of the 
mollusk in the silurian formation of the earth's strata marks the 
limit of moisture and animal life, and from here upward through 
all forms of life to the mammal; an increase of heat and moisture 
must exist, corresponding to the increased blood and vigor, found 
in the varied forms of animal life that exists in the transition. If 
then we progress upward from the mollusk in the silurian. to the 
troglodite in the reptilian age, and trom him to the warm blooded 
animals in the mammalian, which isthelineandorderoftheearth's 
strata defined by science itself, what becomes of the heat theory 
in deep mines and wells which increases one degree in each fifty 
feet of depth? In this ratio no life could exist within the narrow- 
est limit of the pretended eaith-crust. 



44 Annua/ Report of Ihit Commitlee on Geology. 

One need not be a geologist to see the fallacy of such a propo- 
sition. It is faulty, both iu logic and in mathematics, and wliat a 
lawyer would term demurrable, for it fails for want of a sequence is 
one, and to illustrate the power of a given quantity or a correlative' 
proposition in the other. 

The error of this method of reasoning lies in following a given 
proposition to a supposed conclusion to what seems to be a logical 
result, without reference to other priuciples that are necessai? 
factors iu the settlement of questions upon such a basis, that i 
will resist a hostile analysis from auy aud all quarters. 

Unfortunately the science of geology, notwithstanding all ita. 
achievements and its progress to its present position as an impor* 
tant factor in the world's knowledge of the earth's structure, faib 
as yet to give the exact character and condition of its center. 
Therefore, a conclusion can only be approximately reached by \ 
proper interpretation of such known laws of the earth's hidden 
forces, as govern events bearing upon such changes as affect the- 
earth itself. In attempting to do this, is presented the old storf 
of doctors disagreeing iu their diagnosis of the case to be treated. 
Thus Le Conte, always conser\'ative and keeping his line of retreat 
Open, gives the heat theorj- and its ratio of increase as we go down-' 
ward to 3000°, or the point of rock fusion, and states "that many' 
persons have rashly concluded that the earth is essentially ; 
incandescent liquid mass," and further on shows that " "their condi- 
tion is improbable," and that volcanos are "openings into local 
reservoirs" and "not into a universal sea of liqnid matter." 

Having the concurrence of an author of such recognired author- 
ity in this science, I may well conclude with the simple stalemeot 
that the conclusions here sought against the molten theor>-, is also 
confirmed by what is believed to be the best and latest thought in 
astronomical science, in planet-growth and world-building from 
nebulx or areolitic and cosmic dust, as the foundation of all plan* 
tary structures. This result is reached by analysis of space visitors 
that reach us whose composition and texture are found to be almost 
identical, varying only in stone, iron and nickel, always hard wtth 
a specific gravity nearly if not quite equal to the same substances 
found upon the surface of the earth. These bodies mo\-ing in 
space, meet with varjing fatality. To a great extent they are 
destroyed by fusion, on impact with our atmosphere, and appearto 
us as shooting stars, while others, at supposed greater distances 
and less affected by the laws of gravitation, take up the course of a 
comet, and still others that of a planetarj- character with orbit and 
revolution round the sun. 



Annual Report of the Committee on Geology. 45 

If this theory of planetary construction be true, and it has the 
support of two of the ablest astronomers in history, La Place and 
Proctor, with the difference that the former adhered to the cosmic 
dust and nebulae theory, the latter to the ejection method of crea- 
tion from other planetary bodies, but leaving undetermined the 
question of power of a planetary body to throw off a portion of 
itself outside of its own power of gravitation. 

However this question may be settled, if it can be, beyond all 
doubt, the great plan or method of world-building or planetary 
construction, is governed by the same law of creation, whatever be 
the plan, for it is immutable and without change. 

Therefore, by applying the same methods of construction to our 
own planet that prevails in others, our earth must be, like them, 
mainly solid, and I claim that the superficial crust theory and 
molten condition of the earth's center is without law or logic for 
its support. 

JNO. MANSFIELD, 
Los Angeles, Januar>- 6, 1891. Chairman. 



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